Riku's Hidden Girl
by Risa Kuronikko
Summary: In junior high, there was a girl who had a crush on Riku. But it never went anywhere. What would happen if that girl came into his life again...? (The part that mentions the girl with a crush on riku is in volume 31 on page 26.)


**Chapter 1: The coming of a new trainer**

"4.2 seconds! Again!"

Riku watched Sena crumple to the ground in defeat. It had been two weeks since Sena and him enrolled into Enma university. It had been a long time since the world cup game against America, and Panther had revealed his astonishing accomplishment- breaking the human limit of 4.2 seconds. Since then, Sena had been hell-bent on breaking the limit. He wasn't making much progress though.

"Aaahh! Not again! How the hell am i supposed to beat Panther with this speed?!"

"Nice try, Sena. But you're gonna need a coach to do this."

Riku's gaze traveled over the field. He noticed how bad the Enma Fires were without a coach.

"How the hell are we gonna beat Hiruma and the Kid with this team?" He muttered. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a lone figure on the bleachers. It was a girl, a freshman by the look of it, and she was slumped on the bench, looking upon the players with bored eyes.

Sena noticed Riku's puzzlement. "Don't worry, she's not a spy. She's in my math class. I asked her to wait for me so she could help me with math. "

Riku gave him his "really?" look. "That's pathetic, Sena. You don't ask a girl to wait for you."

After practice finished, both of them walked up the bleachers and found her reading a magazine.

"Sorry for making you wait so long..."sena started.

"Don't worry, I had nothing else to do."Risa replied. She glanced at Riku. "Who's this?"

"I'm Riku. Riku Kaitani, freshman." Riku stuck out his hand.

There was a flash of something that sparked through Risa's eyes, but they were just a fleeting light. She took his hand.

"Risa. Risa Kuronikko, freshman as well."

Sena looked surprised. "Kuronikko? As in 'Black Cat'?"

Riku glared at him, but Risa didn't seem to mind. "Yeah."

"That's your real name?"

"...I dunno."

Riku and Sena looked at her in puzzlement. Risa just shrugged it off.

"Well, come on, or do you want to fail-"

"RRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSAAAAAAAAAAA-CHAAAAAAAN!" screeched a familiar voice.

A dark look came over Risa's face. "C***."

Riku and Sena stepped back as a speedy blur tackled Risa and landed hard on the ground. Riku and Sena were winded with bewilderment.

"PANTHER?!" they both exclaimed in unison.

"Sena!" Panther stood up and grinned, having not have seen his arch-rival for a long time.

"What are you doing here?" Sena asked.

"Eh, just happened to pass by. Then I saw Risa talking to you guys and decided, 'why not wish them luck in her training?'"

"Huh?" Riku said.

Risa tackeled Panther and hissed," Don't you DARE bring that up again."

"Well, we should. Those legs would really be a waste if you don't do something about them."

Riku was blown with surprises. "Legs?"

"Don't listen to him. He's crazy enough to think a _girl _has football qualities."

"But you do! Stop being so modest. You could even beat me-"

"That was in middle school. I'm in college now, so f*** off."

Sena stared at her in amazement. "You could beat 4.1 seconds?"

Risa looked at Panther. "You finally beat the human limit?"

"Aw, shucks, it weren't nothing." Panther said, embarrassed.

"That's grammatically incorrect. You just said, 'it's a great achievement'." Risa shot at him hotly.

"Well, let's see if you still have your great achievement. I demand a rematch on our 40-yard dash!"

Risa was taken aback, caught by the unexpected comment. That was a fatal move.

"LET"S GO!" Panther shouted excitedly and dragged the shocked Risa onto the field.

"You wanna go, Sena?"Riku asked.

Sena sighed. "To think that another person has come who has broken the human limit. And she's my tutor!" He said dejectedly.

Riku sighed in return. "You're PATHETIC, Sena." he said, " Just cause there are more rivals than before doesn't mean that you should give it up."

Sena smiled. "Yeah, you're right,"he replied. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "But, didn't Shin say it was impossible for us to break the human limit because of our physical limits?" Sena thought out loud.

Riku thought about that."True," he finally replied,"And she seems to be built like us. So how-"

"Come on you guys! You're about to see the fastest human of all time!"Panther shouted at them.

Riku sighed."Let's just go." He said to Sena.

On the field, Risa was jogging a lap. _Won't she get too tired to run?_ Riku thought to himself. He really wasn't getting what was going on.

Risa joined Panther at the end of the field. Panther looked really excited. "I'll go first,"he offered.

"You would," Risa just replied.

Panther got into position at the edge of the field. Riku got ready with the stopwatch.

"Ready, set…GO!"

Panther shot off toward the 40-yard mark. Riku stopped the watch.

"4.1 seconds!"

"Okay, Risa, your turn, "Panther said, "but don't hold back, cause I'll know!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Risa got into position on the field's edge. Riku held his breath.

"READY…..SET…"

"Watch, Sena," Panther whispered, "you're about to see the fastest girl ever."

"GO!"

Risa shot past the 40-yard mark. She had only been a blur.

But Riku couldn't believe his eyes. The time on the stopwatch was unbelievable.

"Th-3.6 seconds…" he stammered.

Sena and Riku were staring at the watch. Panther, however, wasn't.

"Come on, Risa. Stop holding back. Did you really think you could fool me? You ran _3.6 seconds _back in junior high. Show Sena your true speed!"

Risa looked at him helplessly. "Sorry, Panther, I can't do that anymore."

"Why not?!" Panther whined.

Risa shrugged. "I don't know! I just…can't. No matter how hard I try, I can't go as fast as back then."

Panther was gloomy for a second. Then, his eyes lit up. "Okay, then I'll force you to go that far."

"What?"

"You heard me. I'm not gonna let you off with an excuse like that. Reach 3.5 seconds in 3 tries or else-"

Panther glanced at Sena and Riku. Risa read his mind. "Oh, hell-"

"Oh, hell yeah." Panther cut in," Or else you will have to coach the Emna Fires."

"Are you crazy?! I told you I can't do it!"

"Then force yourself," Panther replied mercilessly," Or else you're the official Emna Fires coach."

Risa looked uncertain. Riku felt sorry for her. Risa lined up on the starting point. She sprinted. Thrice.

"Sorry, Risa, you're the Emna Fires coach as of today." Panther declared triumphantly.

Risa was slumped on the ground. She was sweating hard. She didn't say a word.

"And if you don't do it, I'll spill about the Dark 13-"

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!" Risa snarled. She looked furious and, Riku thought, scared.

Panther just winked at her. He rushed away, leaving all of them in the dust. Riku sat down next to her. "Hey-"

"Leave me alone."

Riku shut up and just sat there. Sena sat on the other side of Risa. They all sat there in silence.

"You know, you don't have to come to our practices..."Riku broke into the silence.

"I ain't as dumb as you think I am,"Risa snarled," You think I wouldn't have thought about that?"

"But why can't you?"

Risa hesitated."Because Panther holds a secret that I wasn't to let anyone know about."

"So he threatens you?"

Risa sat quietly for a moment. "No, but I can't have the risk."

Riku just sat there like an idiot. _What the hell am I supposed to do? _he thought, _I don't know how to deal with girls like her. Tough, strong on the outside, fragile in the inside. _He didn't even know why he was dealing with her.

_Yeah, why __**am **__I dealing with her?_ Riku stood up and brushed himself off.

"Well, whatever it is, don't come crying to_ us _about it. It's your problem- take care of it yourself."

Risa glared at him."First off, _I'm _not the one who asked you fools to sympathize with me. Second, I recall it was _you _getting all up in my business. So don't try putting the blame on me!"

Risa got up and strode across the field to the women's dorms. Sena watched her go, then scurried to Riku's side.

"Don'tcha think that was a little sudden?" Sena asked him nervously.

"I don't care. Besides, she needed a rough comment."

Sena stared at him awhile. Riku noticed him.

"What?"

"You really care for Risa, don't you?"

Sena fled to the dorms before Riku could ask him what he meant. He stood there, bewildered once again.

"I care for her?"

**Chapter 2: Brutal Hell**

Riku was still bewildered the next day about Risa's brilliant show of speed. To think she beat the human limit AND Panther! He hoped he didn't have to see her yet, not until practice. He entered the class.

Riku bumped into Risa.

"Ack! What the-oh, hey, uh, Riku, right?"

Riku groaned.

Risa's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What was that for?"

"Nothing, just having a bad day." Riku fled to the front of the classroom. However, the bell caught him in its trap.

"EVERYONE SIT DOWN!" the teacher spat.

Riku was stuck sitting in front of the drooling, short-tempered teacher.

"OKAY, CLASS," the teacher, Mr. Grinnith, boomed, "GET OUT YOUR ENGLISH TEXTBOOKS!"

Riku realized with horror that he left his own textbook at the dorms. It wasn't long before Mr. Grinnith caught him.

"WHY DON'T YOU HAVE A TEXTBOOK OUT IN FRONT OF YOU?!" he boomed.

"B-because I don't have it ,sir."Riku replied nervously, recalling the only person he knew with a voice that terrifying was Gao.

"AND WHY DON'T YOU HAVE IT?!"

"Because-"

"Because he left it here at his original seat, sir." called a voice out in the back.

Everyone turned to face Risa, who was sitting way in the back of the lecture hall. She stood up, signifying a student-teacher showdown.

"YOUNG LADY, I RECALL I WAS ASKING THIS YOUNG MAN HERE, NOT YOU." Mr. Grinnith snarled warningly.

Risa looked unfazed with the teacher's hint of anger. "Well, doesn't it happen to be that he'll need his textbook for English?" she retorted.

"IT'S HIS OWN RESPONSIBILITY TO BRING IT TO CLASS."

"And he has fulfilled that responsibility; the textbook is in the classroom, and he brought it here."

Surprisingly, Risa presented his blue textbook even though he was sure he had left it in the dorm. She stared down at the teacher with such cold eyes, Riku was reminded of a gargoyle. "So? Will you let him take the textbook and sit at his original seat, or will I have to report you to the authorities as an abuser?"

Fear spiked in Mr. Grinnith's eyes. But he suddenly came up with a comeback Riku was hoping he wouldn't noticed. He turned his attention to Riku, with a confident aura around him.

"AND WHY WERE YOU NOT IN YOUR SEAT, MR. KAITANI?"

Riku shuddered inwardly. Here he was, a college student who was about to throw one of the meanest comebacks ever said in the history of Enma University.

"Your spittle and outrageously loud voice drove me to this seat."

Mr. Grinnith was taken aback for a second. Riku finally unleashed his alter-ego. This sitting in front of Mr. Grinnith was the unfazed, smart-a** Riku who threw harsh retorts at anyone who dared to cross him. He'd been hiding this part of him as much as he can, to maintain his grades as a straight-A student. However, the fact that he played the most violent sport of all-football- had turned his personality to the tough, cocky Riku.

"Didja know? Your wife left you 'cause of that and no one would ever talk to you normally because you're just too much of a freak."

Mr. Grinnith was on the verge of breaking out all childish tears behind his eyes. And Riku, on pure instinct from his years of football, wouldn't let up. He delivered the final blow.

"You wanna cry? Go. No one cares about you."

Riku got up and walked to the back toward Risa as Mr. Grinnith started bawling. The rest of the class watched in astonishment at the teacher who was said to be the toughest of all broken down in front of them. As the class was entertained by all this, Riku sat next to Risa and got his textbook.

"How'd you get it?"

"Sena asked me to give it to you. He said he saw you leaving with it on the bed- him being your roommate and all."

"Thanks for that back there."

"No prob. I actually was surprised when you threw out those mean comments at him. But, doncha think you went a little too far? Look at him now."

They glanced at Mr. Grinnith who was still humiliating himself but entertaining the class."Nah, no one tells anyway."

"True." Risa looked at the clock. "Well, guess I'll see you guys in practice."

The bell rang, and students filed out of the classroom.

Riku was on the field now, and he was stretching. Sena was looking around.

"Hey, Riku, do you think she'll really come?" he asked.

"That's what she said."

"RIKU! SENA!"

Riku and Sena quickly moved out of the way as a huge, bumbling figure landed face-down right where they were standing. It was Kurita, the strong lineman who had the title(courtesy of Gao) of 'pure, heavy weight warrior'.

"How are you guys?" he said nervously, unfazed by the escape.

"Great," Riku replied," but did Sena tell you we're gonna have a trainer from now on?"

"Really?!" Riku and Sena tensed themselves, for it was widely known that whenever Kurita was excited, he would go on a hugging rampage.

However, a few people happened to not know that.

"RISA!" Riku shouted as he spotted her coming toward them.

"THANK YOU FOR COMING TO TRAIN US!"Kurita exclaimed happily. He loomed over her

And Riku saw something he had never seen before.

Risa looked up, startled. Kurita was about to give her the bone crushing hug. Then, something in Risa's eyes changed, and Riku saw deep, cold, merciless eyes. Risa was quick on her feet and grabbed Kurita's arm. Before Riku could actually realize what she was about to do, Risa slammed him hard into the ground. Kurita lay stunned.

"Kurita!" Sena cried as he ran to his side. Risa's eyes were still that strange stare, and Riku realized he could see a little taint of red. But as quickly as she moved, the dangerous eyes were gone in a flash and Risa looked dazed for a while.

Kurita got up slowly, all the while saying how great she was at being a lineman. Riku just stayed back and watched for a while.

"Sena, take Kurita to the infirmary for a while, would you?" Riku asked. Blood was starting to trickle out of Kurita's mouth.

"Sure thing." Sena grunted as he helped Kurita along. When they left and all who was standing on the field was him and Risa, he finally put out the obvious question.

"How'd the hell you do that?"

Risa sighed and only said, "Training."

Riku wondered what kind of training she had gone through. Was it something like the Devil Bats' Death March, where they either ran or pushed a truck along 2,000 miles of America's land?

He got a hint to how brutal her training was when Kurita returned.

"Okay, Emna Fires," she began when greetings and explanations around the team were exchanged. "We're gonna do some hellish training."

Sena raised his hand timidly. "Yeah?" Risa asked.

"Are you like Hiruma when it comes to training?" he asked. Riku saw a flash of recognition on her face.

"Hiruma? Yoichi Hiruma?"

"Yeah, that's him."

A small smile played across her face. "Yeah, I remember him. I guess we're about the same level."

"Oh, boy."

She began to relay her torturous instructions.

"Linemen, go run laps-and with your hands." She saw the looks of confusion, and added,"as in a handstand. But you gotta go fast, cause if you don't make 10 laps in 30 minutes, I'm gonna add lead weights to you."

They all looked at her in disbelief. She continued.

"Receivers, catch 100 flies 5 times. Only with your hands, though." She thought for a while.

"Quarterback, throw 50 footballs from the roof as far as you can, and get them back yourself. Oh, and put 10 grams of lead on your wrists. Tight end, choose whatever type of practice you want that I said." Risa turned toward Sena and Riku. "Running backs, come with me."

Everyone walked away, too much caught up in disbelief over the training regimen to complain. _they might as well be zombies. _Riku thought.

Risa took Sena and Riku to the gym. She then asked what Riku thought was totally unrelated to training.

"Do you guys know how to shuffle?"

Riku glared at her. Risa added, "No, not the sport one. The dance move. You know how to do it?"

Riku just had enough. His arrogant self broke through. "Do you actually play football, b****? 'Cause I never saw you, and I'm sure that some stupid dance move isn't going to help."

Risa's eyes gave him a warning glance. But Riku ignored it, and kept going.

"Who the hell do you think you are, acting all tough and friendly with Panther because you lied about being a football player. Girls are too weak to be a running back. All that they can do that's related to football is become a cheerleader, a manager, or if they're lucky a quarterback. And you can't do any of those things. You probably messed with that stopwatch 'cause it's so obvious that you can't run that fast. You don't have the build. _You can't do anything, you useless piece of sh*t._"

Suddenly, Risa lunged at Riku. He dodged easily and kept on taunting her. "Wanna-be. All talk aren'tcha? Loner. Whatcha gonna do about me, eh, b*tch?"

Risa glared at him. Riku thought that did it. Then Risa suddenly smirked.

"You really thought that I was someone that stupid, huh?"

As Riku watched, Risa's eyes changed again to that cold, dangerous tone- except this time her eyes were full-on red, with black slits. Before Riku could react, Risa leapt at him and pinned him to the ground. Riku groaned.

"_Now listen here, you f***ing b****." _Risa snarled, "_You don't know anything about me. Even if you did, you're not don't act like you know everything, Riku Kaitani._"

Riku gulped. How could she do that? He couldn't even brace himself. Riku noticed his jaw had hit the ground hard, and he felt a throbbing pain in his head.

Risa's eyes changed back to their normal color, and she got off him. But, Riku noticed she looked a little unsteady again. Almost like she was drunk.

"You okay?" He couldn't help to ask.

Risa straightened up suddenly and snapped, "Yeah, I'm fine. Worry about yourself."

And she began their training.

"Today, you're gonna sprint through all of the classrooms, full speed, write your name on the board, and come back here. I already talked to the teachers. Then tomorrow, we're gonna go to a river and you're gonna have to run upstream for a mile in 30 minutes. 5 times. Badda-bing, badda-boom. Capsi?"

Riku rolled his eyes. "Whatever.

They set off.

_Risa Kuronikko_

Risa watched Riku and Sena exit the gym. She sighed. _Damn, Riku noticed. _she thought. The effects of her Black Cat training were hitting her, and she had used it twice. She staggered to the bathroom, closed the door, and leaned over the sink. She coughed.

_I have to stop using it, or otherwise hide the effects more._

She hurled. When she came back up, she found a trickle of blood coming out of the side of her mouth. _It hurts, _she thought painfully.

_But, I can't ever let them know- especially Riku. _she thought fiercely, _I can't tell them about Dark 13. And never let Riku regain his past memories. Never..._ she swore as she licked up her blood.

**Chapter 3: Go past the limit!**

It had been two weeks since Risa started training the Enma Fires. _Tomorrow's Saturday- and we play Amino University, _Riku thought. He stopped daydreaming-which he realized he was doing often- and listened to Kurita talk to the rest of the team.

"Amino University is the team that uses medicine to dominate the sports world." Kurita stammered.

"Aww, but you guys- the Deimon Devil Bats- beat them good, didn't you?"Mizumachi, the tight end, argued.

"Only because Sena was there."

"It's all right, Kurita," Unsui, the quarterback originally from the Shinryuji Dragons comforted him, "They're small fry."

"But do you think Risa's Maxie hard training will actually help?" Monta, the wide receiver asked.

Everyone fell silent at that. Even Riku was starting to doubt Risa.

Just then, Sena burst through the door.

"Sena!" Riku exclaimed, surprised. None of them didn't even realize that Sena wasn't with the group.

Sen was exhausted. He was sweating all over and gasping for air. He uttered a weak, "Hey guys," and collapsed.

_Sena Kobayakawa_

When Sena finally regained consciousness, he found the rest of the team looking over him, worriedly. He shifted his weight, and felt a spark of blinding pain. _Oh yeah..._

"Sena, what happened?" Riku asked when he noticed Sena stirring. "You okay?"

Sena sat up, groggy. "How many minutes have passed since I was out?" he asked in return, not answering Riku's question.

"About 30."

"Ouch..." Sena tried to stand up, but as his surroundings came to his vision, he realized his legs were in real pain. They were overheated. He flopped back down.

"What happened Sena?" Kurita asked this time.

"Training." he replied.

"Risa did this to you?!" Riku cried. He shot up and made for the door.

"Wait! Wait, Riku!" Sena called frantically. He struggled out of the lounge couch, which was where the team brought him after they found the infirmary closed.

"What?"

"It's not her fault!"

"IT IS!" Riku shouted, "she's not even training us in a reasonable way! It's just hurting us- and you're the first victim!"

Sena was at a loss of words. Riku was a great friend- he met them in elementary when he was being bullied and used as a gopher. He showed him how to run, and he always cared- though he never showed it. He also knew that he had to clear things up, or else him and Risa's relationship...

"I asked her to train me extra."

Everyone turned to looked at Sena, who was standing confidently and and looking at Riku full on. Riku was standing there, looking at him.

"What?"

"I said, I asked Risa to train me extra." Sena couldn't read Riku's thoughts, nor his expression. Before he knew it, Riku was striding across the hall to Sena. He grabbed his shirt collar roughly.

"ARE YOU CRAZY, SENA?!"

"W-what?"

"Don't trust her anymore! Her f***ing training is so damn fake, and-"

"You say that even when she's proved to you countless times that she can actually be a football player?"

_Riku Kaitani_

Riku had a startled look on his face. _Well, Sena's right, but..._

"Sena, we don't know if Risa went through the exact same-"

"She did. She went through the exact same thing- only harder."

"How do you know that?"

"She told me."

"She could be lying."

Sena glared at Riku.

"She showed me videos of her training."

_Sena Kobayakawa_

Sena sneaked past the female security guard, who was snoring away on her post. _Man, why'd I have to do this?_

Sena was sneaking into the dorm- the female dorm. Riku was being such an a**, bad-mouthing Risa and making her look bad. _How long will it take for him to notice that Risa's actually a great girl?_ he thought.

He crept past doors and climbed the stairs to the second floor until he saw their room. A brass plate with the names _Risa Kuronikko & Suzuna Taki_ was beside the door. Looking around to check if anyone was watching, he tried the doorknob. The door swung open.

Standing in front of him was Suzuna Taki.

They stood there in awkward silence, staring at each other. Finally, Suzuna broke the silence.

"Well, I never knew you were a pervert, Sena."

"SHHH!"

Sena ran into the room and shut the door. He covered Suzuna's mouth. The sound of footsteps coming out of the stairs echoed through the door. The footsteps stopped at their door. Sena held his breath.

The footsteps continued on.

Sena waited until the footsteps were gone, then let go of Suzuna.

"Whew, thank goodness." Sena breathed in a sigh of relief.

"Sooo, what are you doing here?"

Sena looked up at Suzuna, who was waiting patiently with an expectant look on her face. Sena sighed.

"I was looking for Risa's tapes..." he began.

"The training tapes?"

"Yeah." Sena scratched his head. "Riku got mad at me for training extra hours with her. He kept dissing her about being a fake football player. So I want to prove him wrong." He looked at Suzuna. "That's why I'm here."

"Well, reasonable." Suzuna said after a moment. She looked up at him suddenly.

"But why are you even bothering?"

"Risa's a good girl. And I got pissed at Riku, since he didn't even get to know Risa a little more. Also..." Sena shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't want Riku to always have to worry about me too much."

Silence followed.

Suzun sighed. "Well, I guess I'll accept that answer."

Sena blushed. "Well, there's reason..."

"What?"

"I wanted Risa and Riku to... you know."

"Hook up?" Suzuna filled in, surprised.

"Yeah. I kinda think they'll make a great couple."

Suzuna looked at him as if he had evolved into an ant. "I never knew you had a love complex."

"Why do you think I hooked up with you in the first place?"

Suzuna smiled and walked toward Risa's bed. "Okay, I'll help you with that. I kinda want them to hook up, too."

Suzuna opened a drawer in Risa's dresser. Inside were many small clothes that looked like football uniforms. There was even a small, beat up football on the corner. As Sena and Suzuna scanned the contents, they found a lot of mini trophies, and Sena even found a little photo album. Sena took it out and blew off the dust.

"What's this?" he asked Suzuna.

"I dunno," she replied, looking over his shoulder, "I never saw that before. Look at the cover."

On the cover, the words _Dark 13 _ were embroidered with gold sting. Next to it was a little mini picture of a group of children that looked about 10 years old. Suzuna pointed at one of the girls.

"Do you think that's her?" she asked Sena.

The little girl in the picture was half Risa's size. She had the same hair color combo that Risa had; light brown bangs with dark brown shoulder length hair tipped with the light brown color again. Her bangs aren't held up, unlike the present Risa who's bangs were held up by a little gel. The young girl's bangs hung lazily over her eyes, and her eyes peeked out from underneath. But something about her eyes made them shiver; mabye it was the pained, merciless, and cold tone deep, deep in them that scared them.

"Wow, Risa's scary. Well, the little Risa." Suzuna said.

"Well, she'll turn scary on us if she finds we've been looking through her stuff. Let's put it back." Sena reached out to put the book back when he heard footfalls echoing through the halls again. Scrambling, Sena put the book back and hid under Suzuna's bed. Suzuna fixed herself up, and crashed onto the bed. Everything seemed to be normal when Risa walked into the room.

"Hey, Suzuna." she greeted. Sena held his breath.

"Hey." Suzuna replied casually. Inside, she was shaking.

"Have you seen Sena?"

Sena shivered under the bed.

"Nah. Why?" Suzuna could barely put the words out without shaking.

"I wanna tell him training is cancelled tomorrow. I guess I can do that over the PA. No one seems to be around."

_Oh yeah, _Sena thought, _they're all hiding out in the woods. Riku wanted to make sure Risa didn't come with me. _

"Well, good luck." Suzuna said. She paused.

"How's the training going?" she asked suddenly.

Risa turned. "Fine," she replied, "But they might not get what the training's for until the game tomorrow."

Suzuna smiled. "Well, good luck in the game."

Risa smiled back. "Hell raisers don't need luck."

Under the bed, Sena smiled, too.

_Riku Kaitani_

Riku was in the locker room, stretching. He thought back to the night before.

_"Sena, where are those tapes you told us about?"_

_Sena looked at Riku steadily. Then, he scanned the whole team with his demeaning gaze. They all fell silent._

_"I didn't bring them."_

_"Why not?!"_

_"Cause you'll find out how good Risa's training is in the game tomorrow." he replied._

_"Why not now?"_

_"It'll ruin everything."_

_"You talked to Risa, didn't you?"_

_"Even if I did, it wouldn't have changed anything."_

_"So then show us the videos!"_

_Sena stared at Riku, his eyes filling with anger. _

_"Look, Riku, if you're that worried about her training, then don't come to practice. I don't have to do this 'cause I believe in Risa. So don't drag me into your sh*tty rebellion, 'cause I'm not leaving Risa."_

Sena had walked away after that. Riku was shocked. His little brother (not by blood) had rebelled against him for the first time. He sneaked a glance over at Sena now. He was normal, but he wasn't talking to Riku. Riku wondered if that would affect their game. After all, there weren't any subs.

"Hey! Get your a**es movin! The game's starting!"

Riku looked up and saw Risa. _She's the reason why Sena and I are fighting. _he thought. He was the last one out, and he waited until everyone was out on the field. When Risa and him were the only ones left in the locker room, he stood up and walked over to him. Risa regarded him with unwavering eyes.

"Whaddya want?"

Riku smiled a sweet, cold smile, then slammed his hand onto the wall inches from her head. Still, Risa stood there, with an expectant look on her face. Riku looked at her straight in the eye, his face inches from hers.

"Do you know Sena and I are fighting?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"Do you think it's your fault?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not the one arguing. You just decided to stand against Sena."

Riku wiped off all emotion off his face. He leaned in close, and when his face was next to hers, he whispered:

"You hide one damn thing from us, and end up hurting Sena, I swear I will kill you."

He straightened himself up and left, leaving Risa. But just before he left, he heard Risa.

"You never trust anyone, do you? And everyone has a secret- mine's just in the past."

Riku ran past the lumbering safety of Amino, but was caught again. Before he went down, he looked around wildly for Sena. But he, too, was in the grasps of Amino's player. _Risa! What the hell am I supposed to do with your f***ing training?! _he thought desperately as he was slammed into the ground.

They were down by 6 points, which meant they were just 1 touchdown behind and would win with Kotaro's accurate kick. And Amino was blocking every way of victory. _Well, they do have a grudge against Deimon since last year, when they prevented them from dominating the sports world with medicine._

As they set up again, he heard a faint shout through the roars of the crowd. He glanced toward Risa, who was hardly audible. But Sena seemed to get what she said. Riku saw a new spark of determination in his eyes.

6 counts of huts. _Unsui's playing with us _Riku thought. Finally, on the 7th hut, the play began.

Sena got the ball, and ran up the center. _What the hell, was Unsui thinking, letting that many huts go on? _Sena approached an Amino corner-back. _Sena-_

"SENA! USE YOUR GODDAMN TRAINING ALREADY AND STOP PULLING MY DAMN STRINGS!" Risa shouted, in a gleeful tone, "HURRY UP AND-"

Riku saw Sena grin.

"TAKE THE FOOTBALL WORLD BY STORM!"

A cloud of dust sprung up as Sena accelerated. He passed players one by one. Riku watched the clock on the board.

_4.5 seconds, 4.4 seconds, 4.3 seconds, 4.2 seconds..._ Riku realized what Sena was trying to do. He watched anxiously as Sena, with much effort ran in the touchdown just as the buzzer sounded.

The whole stadium exploded. Riku fell to his knees, not believing what he just saw.

_4.1 seconds._

4.1 seconds. Eyeshield 21, Sena Kobayakawa, had finally beaten the human limit! As Kotaro made the kick in with ease, he heard over the speakers:

"What's that?! Enma had just barely won the game- because they were using Amino to awaken Sena's hidden speed!"

Riku looked in amazement at Unsui. The quarterback was smiling.

Back in the locker room, Riku heard that Risa had talked to Unsui only about the plan.

"So Risa wanted me to have the game be a close one," Unsui said, " Just because she wanted to force Sena to surpass the limit."

Riku cheered and gave Sena a noogie. Everything was okay between them now. But, Riku still had one more thing to do

Riku crunched through the undergrowth, looking around. _Risa wasn't in her room, Suzuna said earlier, she went outside for some fresh air. _Riku knew Risa was playing with him.

He finally found her, walking towards the entrance. She was on her phone. She looked worried, and Riku kept to the shadows until she finally noticed him and hung up.

"Who was that?" Riku asked.

"No one." she replied, making it clear she wasn't going to say anything else. It was quiet for a long moment. Finally, Riku gathered his courage.

"I'm sorry." Riku blurted.

Risa looked taken aback, then smirked. "So you finally give in and accept that I'm right." she said.

Riku nodded. Risa paused, then sighed.

"Well, you should be able to pass the human limit by now." Risa commented.

Riku looked up. "What?"

Risa nodded. "Try it."

Risa got out her phone's stopwatch, and Riku took his stance. He got ready.

"Go!"

Riku burst forward. He immediately was tired. but he pushed himself on, with the speed and endurance he got from Risa's training. He willed every creaking muscle in his body.

_GO PAST THE LIMIT!_

_Risa Kuronikko_

Risa stopped the time and smiled. The time was just right. Riku...

"You passed it, Riku." she called out.

He jumped up and down, swallowing the victory that seemed almost impossible. Risa clapped and congratulated him, but in her mind, she had bad thoughts floating around.

After Riku left, Risa's smile dropped and worry crossed over her face. She felt a drop of something on her face. She looked up into the sky. It was raining.

She watched the raindrops fall, soaking her to her very skin, and flashed back to when she had run away from the laboratory. It was on a rainy day like this one. And on that day, she had ran as fast as she could- and ran for the first time 3.6 seconds. She recalled the grusome training that she had made and gone through, just for that one day. Her mouth parted just a little.

" Please," she whispered, to no one in particular, "Please have them go through safely."

_Panther_

Nearby, Panther was in the bushes, watching Risa. He watched as she changed into her fragile self, the one she had never shown to anyone. No one but Team 13. And Panther.

Panther unveiled himself. Risa immediately snapped her head towards him.

"So you were there the whole time." she said.

Panther nodded. He sighed.

"And when do you plan to tell them about Dark 13?"

Risa looked away, then said, "You tell them."

Panther looked at her questionably. Risa rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, fool, I said that. You tell them. I ain't gonna tell them my business when I have other stuff to do."

Panther silently agreed.

"Do you want me to tell Riku, though?"

Risa closed her eyes.

"You have to. He'll catch onto something if you don't."

"Sure. And when is Kota-kun coming?"

Risa opened her eyes and said, "Next week, Monday."

"I'll do it by then," Panther looked right into her eyes, "I promise."

Risa looked away and nodded.

**Chapter 4: Dark 13, the Lost Demons**

_Riku Kaitani_

Riku was lazily checking his e-mail when Sena bust through the door. He looked shaken up.

"What now with the Suzuna problem?" he asked.

Suzuna had lately been grouchy and was especially mean towards Sena. Sena kept trying to find out what was wrong with her, but as always, she kicked him out.

Sena plopped onto the bed.

"She mumbled something about Risa."

"Risa?"

Riku thought this had nothing to do with Risa. They've been acting great together. So what was-?

"HI SENA!" said a familiar voice. They turned in horror towards the window.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THE WINDOW, PANTHER?!"

Panther grinned. "Don't worry, I'm used to this."

Suddenly, he turned serious. "So I heard both of you passed the limit already."

"Yeah! Wait, Riku you too?!" Sena cried.

_Oops, _Riku thought.

"Sorry, I didn't have much time to tell you."

"That's great Riku!"

"But more importantly," Panther continued on, "You're saying Suzuna's acting weird?"

Sena nodded. "Ever since Saturday night."

Panther nodded thoughtfully. He gathered himself up.

"Meet me in the woods. The whole team. 5 minutes. I'll tell you what Risa told Suzuna."

Enma's football team was gathered in the woods, having a little picnic. Riku glanced around. Panther wasn't here yet. He sighed. They dug into ham and cheese sandwiches and chips. As Riku took a big gulp of Coke, he heard a rustling sound coming deep from the woods. It got louder and closer, and...

Panther burst from the woods. He landed next to Sena, who seemed distant. _Probably thinking about Suzuna, _Riku thought. Panther dug in. The whole party was quiet, waiting for Panther's explanation. Finally, he finished his drink.

"So I got you all here today to help you guys understand what Suzuna's going through." he began, "so that means I may have to tell you a bit about your coach."

Riku perked up. _Something about Risa? _he asked in his mind.

Panther closed his eyes. "Risa told Suzuna about her past."

Everyone was silent. Riku was confused. "That was what Suzuna's moping over?"

Panther looked at him. "Suzuna is Risa's close friend. And she sympathizes with her, and she's moping over having treated her like an ordinary person."

Panther sighed. "Well, Risa told her that, because she was preparing for me to tell you guys, in preparation for your upcoming training."

"What does that have to do with her past?" Mizumachi asked.

"You'll be trained by another Dark 13 member."

Riku threw his hands up in exasperation. "What the hell is this Dark 13 thing we keep hearing about?!"

Panther smiled. But Riku noticed it was a sad smile. "That's what I'm here to tell you."

_Risa Kuronikko_

Risa was lying on the roof, looking towards the gray sky. _It's really gray, _she thought, _Like the world is being covered by a fluffy, gray blanket._ Risa narrowed her eyes. _About now, Panther should be telling them all about Dark 13. _

_Wow, it's been a long time though,_ she smiled as she thought, _I kinda miss everyone. _Regret flooded her eyes. _I wish we could be normal again..._

Risa closed her eyes.

_Risa_

_10 years ago..._

_Risa bounded through the fields, laughing happily. She heard a shout behind her, and turned. A small figure in the distance waved, and Risa ran toward it. When she caught up, she threw her arms around him. _

_"Wah! Watch out Risa! I'm gonna fall!"_

_"Why? I missed you so much! Where the hell were you, Raku- kun?!"_

_Risa looked up through the tears at Raku. He smiled lovingly. _

_"Don't worry, Risa. No matter where I am, I'll always come back to you." He leaned in. _

"Risa! Risa, get your f***ing a** up right now, you _rokudenashi!" _

Risa fell out of the hamper. "OW! What did I ever do to you?!"

The girl roughly pulled her up. "Come on! They're gonna adopt us!"

Risa was dragged through the orphanage. Children scram and ran, with the staff trying desperately to calm them down. In the middle of the room and chaos, a man in a suit sat.

"Who's that old geezer?" Risa thought out loud.

A maid hit her head with a broom. "That happens to be Mackery Darnwell, who's a rich man from America come to take you cruddy kids away!"

Risa spit at the maid, and the maid chased her in turn. Risa used her excellent cuts and maneuvers to lose the lady. She ended up stopping in front of the man.

The man was watching her intently. Risa backed up a few steps, the look in the man's eyes was unsettling. The man gave a warm smile.

"Do you play football, young lady?" he asked.

Risa started. "How do you know? You stalker."

"Well, you just demonstrated a nice display of cutting. Isn't that enough?"

"I guess."

"Does anyone else here play football?"

"My friends do. Everyone else thinks it's a dangerous sport."

"May you introduce them to me?"

Risa did so, going through her 13 friends. Every time, Risa found the cold, greedy look in the man's eyes. Finally, they got to the last boy.

"This is Raku-kun."

The 9 year-old boy with the soft, brown spiky hair brushed back and held back with gel smiled boyishly up at the man.

"Pleased to meet you."

"Nice ta meetcha, too."

Risa and Raku walked around the woods, holding hands. They talked a bit about the man. He was so distant, yet near. Risa told him about her bad feeling about him.

"Don't worry," he smiled, "No matter where you are ,Risa, I'll always come back to protect you."

Risa smiled amd gave him a peck on the cheek. He blushed.

"Geez, still not used to it?" Risa teased.

"Shut up."

_5 months later..._

Risa slashed open the throat of the girl. She tried to speak, but blood gurgled up her mouth.

"I'm sorry," Risa sobbed out the words to the girl who dragged her out of the hamper 5 months ago. "I'm sorry."

The girl died in her hands. Risa stood up.

"Congrats, Risa! You advance toward the finals of the Black Cat name, Kuronikko!"

Risa stumbled past the arena toward the orphanage. She entered her crummy, small room which she used to share with the girl she killed and dropped to the floor. The smell of blood was everywhere, and her head was filled with the terrible memories of killing her fellow friends at the orphanage. They danced in front of her eyes, and a voice played over and over in her head. Stop this, you will kill someone close to you if you continue on.

But I can't, she thought helplessly, I'm being forced to, just for some stupid title and being able to get adopted.

What had happened was the rich man from before that had come to buy children was making a elimination test in order to pick the lucky 13 who are to be adopted. And during the process, Risa killed thousands of fellow orphans just to get the position Black Cat, which she thought was a stupid name.

Risa sneaked out and ran into the fields. She ran and ran, hoping that some miracle could lift her out of this dump. But she knew that miles later, there would be electrical fences to high to jump and too deadly to climb. Risa tripped and fell into the grass.

Quietly, she cried. She was a murderer, and she knew it. She didn't know who she was anymore. She rolled into a ball, as if she was protecting what was left of herself. She felt something touch her. She flinched.

"It's okay, it's me." Raku whispered softly. Risa threw herself into his arms.

"I don't wanna do this anymore!" she cried, hugging him tightly. Raku clutched her tightly.

"It hurts so much! It hurts! It hurts!"

"I know," Raku told her quietly. He pulled her off and looked straight into her eyes.

"But I will always be by your side. Always."

Risa got into her combat clothes. It was all black: tight jeans with short black shorts over it and a sleeveless hoodie over a gray short sleeved shirt. She sighed as she lined up at the gate.

"Welcome, spectators. We now approach the final title battle, the Black Cat final round!"

Cheers erupted all around.

"Now we will begin the round. On the right side is the young lady who has slaughtered many children without hesitation, the young miss Risa!"

"And on the left, we have the young man who has killed many foes left and right with his face unbent to emotion, the young knight, mister Raku!"

Risa's mind was in shock as the gates opened. It can't be him, it can't be...

Sure enough, on the other end of the grounds was Raku, walking steadily toward Risa. Risa was shoved out. Her chest was tight, her breathing shallow.

An arrow whizzed past her. She dodged out of instinct. When she looked up, she saw Raku with his bow up and posed. She was traumatized.

"Why, Raku-kun?!" she shouted desperately, "Why?!"

"I'll do anything to get out of here, and I will kill whoever gets in my way," he looked at her. "Even you."

Risa continued dodging the attacks. Raku kept attacking.

Why? Why? Who's making us do this?! she glanced up. And she saw Mackery Darnwell.

That's right. That bast*rd started everything. It's his fau-

"If you think that guy did all this, you're wrong," Raku said suddenly. Risa looked up, and was caught off-guard. Raku slammed into her and they tumbled. Risa tried to wrestle free, but Raku was much stronger. He had her pinned to the ground.

"Guess what? You're the one who told him about all of us and football. He wants us to play football. You told us out, and he came after us. So basically-" Risa fought down the despair in her stomach.

"It's all your fault!"

At that moment Risa felt a surge of power flow through her. She knocked Raku to the ground, then rushed him. He slammed to the far wall.

"Uhh..." Raku struggled.

Risa stood in the middle of the arena. The dust cleared, leaving her panting. The audience cooed over this performance.

"No, I didn't kill them, how was I supposed to know he was doing that? How the hell am I supposed to kill everyone just cause I said that." Risa looked up fiercely, her new red eyes flashing.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY I KILLED MY FRIENDS!"

Risa slammed Raku again. And again. Over and over. She was wild, uncontrollable. She forgot all her feelings. For anyone. Anything. For Raku.

Finally, Risa stood over a boy so beat up and bloody, she had to take a minute to recognize him.

Raku smiled. Risa kneeled down next to him, all expression off her face. Raku laughed and laughed. Risa waited. Finally he stopped and smirked evilly.

"You know, I always knew you were a b****. You were so violent." Risa waited. Raku's evil grin grew wider.

"I never loved you in the first place."

Risa slashed his throat. Raku died. Tears slid silently down her face.

"I'm sorry, Raku. I'm so sorry."

2 years later...

Risa was running the marathon on the treadmill again at full speed. She didn't dare look behind her at the red-hot metal pole that would burn her if she didn't keep up.

The training that Mackery Darnwell was putting them through was torture. They were training day and night, with one hour of sleep. But, everyone that were Risa's close friends back at the orphanage was there. Except Raku.

Finally, 10:00 came, and they were allowed to go to their room that they shared together. It was pretty big, like an auditorium, so they didn't have a problem with it. Risa collapsed once the door shut.

"Risa! Are you okay?!" Kota shook her wildly, worried.

"She passed out, huh?" Another trainee, Hikaru, commented.

"She can't possibly keep up," said the only other girl in the Dark 13, Sumari.

The quarterback, Aria, was silent. Suddenly,he said:

"We need to get away from here."

Everyone looked in horror at him. "You mean, run away?"

"We have to. They're killing us. Sooner or later, Risa will become the first victim."

Silence.

"I'm with him." Kota piped out. "I don't want to..." Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I don't want to lose someone else again."

The atmosphere changed. Everyone was bathed in the horror of the elimination, blood dancing before their eyes. Everyone's eyes flashed red.

"Well, its settled." Aria said.

Risa ran past the grass, Aria behind her. They were being chased, and they were gaining up fast. Aria glanced back.

"Risa! Over here!" he shouted.

They hid behind a tree and caught their breath. Aria took a deep breath, and said:

"You go on ahead. I'll hold them off."

Risa looked at him.

"They'll kill you."

"I know."

"So then why?"

Aria looked at her sadly. He smiled.

"Because you're important to all of us."

Risa felt the hot tears piling in her eyes. She tried desperately to hold them back.

"But you're important too, Aria!"

"The team can go on without me. But they need you to hold them up." Rain started to pour down. In the distance, the sound of shouting and footfalls could be heard through the pattering of the rain. Hot tears slid down her face.

"You're our pillar we need to protect. You're the one who put the team together, and held us together. We're a team, thanks to you."

Risa collapsed and hid her face and tried unsuccessfully to hide the uncontrollable sobs coming out of her. Aria smiled.

"Wow, I've never seen this fragile side of Risa. Here," Aria held out his hand.

"My name's Aria Kuro-onii. What's your name?" He grinned.

Risa looked up.

"I'm Risa. Risa Kuronikko."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Risa." Aria's expression changed as the sound of shouts got closer.

Risa sobbed. "I don't wanna go, Aria!"

Aria smiled and Risa could already see that he almost left entirely. He crouched down and hugged Risa tightly.

"Tell everyone I said 'hi'."

Risa clutched his shirt. "No, Aria, I don't wanna lose you too!"

Aria smiled. He glanced behind Risa, where a cliff leading into an ocean lay.

"Go, Risa."

Risa cried.

"GO!"

Dark figures exploded through the underbrush. Aria shoved Risa off the cliff. Risa caught one last glimpse of Aria, his eyes red with purple tints, the stage no one had ever gone to before. The stage that would kill him.

"ARIA!"

Risa plunged into the dark waters below. She surfaced, and heard growls and gunfire above her. Blood spilled down onto her face and she touched it, knowing whose blood it was.

"ARIA! ARIA!" she screamed again and again until the chaos above her died down and the calm rumbling of the sea filled the air again.

"Aria..." she whispered as she succumb to the gentle rock of the water and the painful, bleeding slash on her back.

Risa gasped and sat up. She looked at her hands. It was only a dream...

Wow, it's been a long time since I've dreamt of that. Risa felt a hot liquid slide down her face. She reached up, and felt tears pouring uncontrollably. Risa sat there for a moment.

"Ha, it's been forever and I still can't get over his death. Ha ha," More tears fell.

"You loved him, didn't you?"

Risa looked up and saw Suzuna, standing in the doorway. Raindrops started falling, one by one, until it fell so much that they were soaked.

"Go inside, Suzuna, you'll catch a cold."

"But you loved him."

Risa looked up toward the sky, and didn't reply. Finally, she said:

"Yeah."

Suzuna's face took on a pained expression as she saw Risa sitting there, still heart-broken.

Suzuna sat next to Risa and hugged her. Risa continued gazing at the sky.

"I'm sorry, Risa, I'm so sorry."

Suzuna heard a small sob come out of Risa.

Riku Kaitani

The whole team was silent after Panther told Risa's story. Riku was starstruck.

"Waitta minute, so basically Risa was bought by this rich guy, who used her as a science experiment to make the best football player and she and her friends were going through a lot and that Raku and Aria guy were killed?" Mizumachi, not thinking as usual about respect, asked out loud.

Panther looked at him, wearing his unbothered expression. "Yeah."

"And what does this have to do with training?" Unsui asked.

"Unsui..." Kurita, who broke into tears the whole time whined.

Panther smiled.

"One of the Dark 13 members, Kota-kun, will be training you. You need to know this in order to train well with him."

"So when is this guy coming here?" Riku asked.

"I'm right behind you."

Riku sprung up and whirled around. There, right behind where he sat, stood a guy about his age. He had black, lazy hair that flew around his head. He had very sharp fingernails, and had a mysterious aura about him that was a little like Risa's but also very different. He stood up and grinned. Riku shivered.

I didn't even know he was there! Riku thought wildly. Kota looked at him. Suddenly, he was right in front of him. Riku's eyes widened.

"Hey, fool," Kota smirked at him, and Riku noticed he was almost the same height. "stay on your guard."

He brought up a finger, and before Riku could even figure out what was happening, Kota flicked his head. Riku felt his knees buckle. H-He's strong! Riku thought before he hit the ground. Kota smiled down on him. He then stepped on his hand.

"Ack!" Riku shouted.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Sena cried. Kota looked over at him. Then an evil smirk crossed his face. Riku saw it.

"Se-!"

"Get off him, Kota."

Riku felt a huge weight being lifted off of him as a fast blur tackled Kota and threw him to the ground. They wrestled for awhile, then Kota threw out a punch and the other figure flew off him. Kota rose with blood seeping out of scratches.

And Risa rose with blood trickling out of her mouth.

"Risa!" Riku exclaimed. Then he stopped. Risa's eyes were a scarlet red. And so was Kota's.

Kota realized what he was doing and turned off the freaky eyes.

"Sorry, Risa, didn't know it was you. Old habits die hard ya know." Kota laughed sarcastically.

"Whatever." Risa turned her eyes off and walked toward Kota. She grabbed his collar.

"Just don't hurt the team intentionally, okay?"

Kota rolled his eyes. Risa let him go. She walked away. "Don't be late for practice," she called.

Chapter 4: Enter, Kota Kuro-inu!

"Get those feet up! Move it! Hustle, hustle!" Kota shouted. Riku glared at him.

They were starting Kota's training, and there were two types- offense and defense training. Riku was now doing the offense one. And right now, he was again running a marathon full-speed.

"Move your a**es! That means you, Riku!"

Riku snapped. He was running 4.1 seconds, but it was hurting him. His legs were numb. Well, at least it was better than when they were screaming with pain. Riku, Sena, Unsui, Monta, and Mizumachi were running in the nearby river, trying to get upstream. The defense team had done the same thing, only with pushing boulders along too.

So the team was making slow progress, and they were slowing down exponentially. Mizumachi was in the back,huffing and puffing.

"Hustle, Mizumachi!"

"Oh, come on! No one can do this any faster! Betcha you can't do it!"

Kota smirked and lept into the water. Then, he started sprinting upstream. The water didn't seem to hold him down. Riku watched in amazement as Kota started cutting and zig-zagging too. It was almost as if he was walking on water.

Wait, he is walking on water! Riku realized. Kota was sprinting so fast, his feet barely went about an inch or two underwater until they were moving again.

Kota saw Sena gawking at him. He passed Sena and sprayed water into his face. Sena was caught off-guard, and fell into the water hard. Riku whirled and glared at Kota. He was laughing.

"Shut up, Kota! What the hell are you doing?!" he snarled.

Kota's laughter died and he looked at Riku with gleaming eyes. He smirked again, but now with a more evil taint. Riku started.

"Wha-"

Then suddenly, Kota was in front of him. Riku's eyes widened, and then Kota spurted water from his mouth onto Riku's face. Riku backed away, coughing and wiping his eyes. Again, Kota was hysterical.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Kota?!" Riku coughed out.

"What? I'm just having fun. I'm stuck with you fools who can't do sh*t and I'm getting bored." Kota scratched his head. "I wish I could leave already."

"Then GO!" Riku shouted fiercely, "All you're doing to us is bullying! What more can you get for your sick fun?!"

Kota suddenly stopped scratching his head and glared at Riku. Again, he 'teleported' and grabbed Riku's collar roughly. Riku coughed.

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you, boy." Kota spat at him. Riku started. Kota had his red eyes on.

"It would be better if Risa wasn't with any of you. Especially you." Riku was about to snarl something back to him until he felt Kota being launched off him and scanning the water. Riku saw Risa standing in front of him. She had thrown Kota off him.

"Well, Kota, looks like you're not training them, no?" Risa smiled angrily at him.

Kota got up and spat out water. He wiped his mouth, which had blood trickling out. Risa seemed to have punched him. And he was pissed.

"Kuro nekko anata o kuso." Kota spat out.

"Wow, you're spitting a lot today, kokken." Risa smirked. She whirled around, facing the group.

"Well, tomorrow we play against Ojo." Silence rang throughout the clearing. Risa smiled evilly.

"Beat the hell outta them, Enma Fires."

Chapter 5: A secret past within a past

The Enma Fires went out into the Rice Bowl tournament, which was a tournament between college and adult football teams. They've beaten Ojo, and took away Ojo's non-stop victories away from them. Again, the tournament's dark horses will soon play against Takemura Construction, and if they win, they will play Saikyo University, with the much feared players Agon, Ikkyu, and finally, the devil who turns white ice black, the quarterback from Deimon high school, Yoichi Hiruma.

After practice, Riku was exhausted. The training was 3 times more brutal , and Riku could feel the pain of running non-stop, full speed, through a marathon on the treadmill.

Damn, Risa's merciless, he thought. As, he was packing up, he saw Sena and Suzuna standing over by the shed. Sena looked uncomfortable.

And Sena's pathetic, as usual, he thought again. Here was Sena, not getting how to act around his girlfriend. Riku had a little experience; this girl in junior high liked him. But he didn't really pay attention to her. She would only get in the way of his football she wasn't his type. He always thought he wanted a strong-willed girl who would help with his dream of becoming a pro football player. But over the years, he realized there was hardly any girl like that.

Wonder if theres someone like that here? He wondered. He looked over at Suzuna. Shes taken, but she has a strong will. But she won't really help me with football. He looked over the cheerleaders. Nah, they only joined for the looks and status. He couldn't help but think of Risa. He shivered. Not gonna happen. But if she were... Well, she has a strong will and helped us win against Ojo. Riku paused. Then suddenly blushed, realizing what he was getting at. What if...

"HEY!" Risa yelled in his ear. He jumped.

"God, don't scare me like that!" He panted.

"How about you stop daydreaming first, you f***ing idiot. "

'sting!' Riku fell to the ground. He clutched his knee. All of a sudden, it started to hurt. Like hell.

"You okay?" Risa asked.

"Yeah, I'm sparkling, thanks to your damn training!" He stopped. Damn, went too far! He looked up nervously.

Risa had a strange look on her face. It looked like... Regret. Aw, sh*t, dont pour please. But there was a tinge of a familiar look, Riku's memory snapped it into his head. She had that look when they first met. Like she was remembering something.

But she wiped it off her face and turned around. (Little two-faced b*tch, he would think later)

"I'll tell the guys the increase in training was your fault Riku. "

Riku groaned. "Aw, f*ck. "

They stayed in the silence for a while.

"Hey, you wanna go to that cafe and grab a milkshake or two?" Risa asked suddenly.

Riku was taken aback. Them he grinned.

"Wow, the merciless she-demon asks a wounded player out to milkshakes out of pity."

"Shut up."

Risa Kuronikko

Risa listened to the gasps for air behind her.

Ugh, screw you, Riku. Laughing at me so that you can-

Calm, Risa. Risa took a breath in, and quietly let it out so the fool behind her couldn't hear her. Yeah, I know. I can't let him remember any more.

They walked into the cafe.

Riku Kaitani

He was still laughing from Risa's little predicament. And the way she said it! It was enough for any fool to laugh until he was out of breath.

"Oh, so you had your fill of humor already, huh?" Risa said sarcastically.

"Don't crack me up here. I'll have a heart attack and choke on my milkshake."

"Yeah, yeah. "

They lined up and gave their order. After a minute, the two were sucking away at their vanilla milkshakes. It was awkward and quiet. Riku looked out the window and down the street, pretending to check out the local shops. He stole a glance at Risa. Again she seemed to be spacing out. Riku inwardly sighed. Usually, Risa and him would spend their time together with small talk and little arguments here and there. There was never a quiet moment between them.

Now there was. Ever since his crack at her, things have been awkward. Riku was wondering how to lighten the mood when he spotted two familiar faces come near them.

"Katsuya! Otani!"

"Riku?!" They both exclaimed in unison.

Slaps on the back were issued. Riku never thought he'd ever see his junior high friends again.

"What school do you go to now?"asked Katsuya.

"Enma University. "

"No way! I thought you'd go to Saikyo or something. What happened to your football dream?"

"Thats why. I wanna try and beat Saikyo. "

"Damn. Big dream, fool."

Riku completely forgot about Risa until Otani asked,"Whos the girl?"

Riku turned. "Our football coach." Don't offend her. She'll whup your a**.

Otani paused.

"Risa?"

Riku turned to them with a questioning look on his face. Katsuya brightened.

"I was wondering why you look so familiar! It's you, isn't it, Risa?"

Risa slowly faced them.

"Whaddya want?"

"Wow, its really you! Where've you been all these years?!"Otani cried.

To Riku's surprise, Katsuya hugged Risa. And Risa didn't struggle. Riku felt a little pang of jealousy. He brushed it away.

What the hell was that? He thought.

Katsuya turned and found Riku with a confused look on his face.

"What? Don't tell me you forgot about Risa, Riku. She was with us in middle school, remember?"

Suddenly, Risa turned on them. She glowered, her eyes shining scarlet.

"Say another word and I will whup your a** until there's nothing left but bones." she said in a chilling voice.

Katsuya and Otani shivered, then Katsuya commented,"Still as scary as ever, eh?"

They walked away, and Risa finished her drink.

"See you, Riku." Before Riku could say anything, she disappeared into the crowd.

Sena Kobayakawa

Sena and Suzuna were in The girls dorm again, looking at Risas secret photo album. They found many frightening pictures of Risa in the laboratory when she was with the Dark 13. She always looked sad.

"God, where the hell did Risa come from?" Suzuna commented.

Finally, they found her outside; she was in middle school. She looked happier now, but always afraid and looking around. Sena pointed to a picture.

"Look, she's wearing a football jersey. "

Sure enough, she was wearing a black jersey with red flames licking up the sides. She was number 13.

"Do you think this has something to do with Dark 13?" Suzuna asked Sena. He shrugged.

Gradually, the pictures showed Risa's middle school and her might've joined the football team, Sena thought. But what really shocked them was one picture that was taken at a game.

"Is that Riku?!"

A middle school Riku was standing beside her. They had their arms around the others shoulders, and they were sweaty. Maybe they won a game, Sena thought. They saw a very rare sight- Risa smiling, genuinely happy.

"Have you ever seen Risa that happy before?"Sena asked Suzuna.

"Never." Suzuna replied. "There may be something more to Riku and Risa."

There were a few more pictures on Risa's middle school life, but then they heard footfalls coming in their direction. "Go through the window and climb down the tree!" Suzuna told Sena. As Sena left and Suzuna put the album back hastily, neither of them saw the little piece of paper sticking out of the album, which could have changed everything if they noticed.

Riku Kaitani

"Risa! Wait up!"Riku shouted as he sped through the streets after he finally found her. People stared at him. He even heard a little girl say,"Mommy? Did that man cheat on his wife?"

Riku blushed and ran on. He chased Risa onto the Enma University campus. Thanks to her training, he was able to keep up with her- all the way 'til the girls dorm.

Aw, man, he thought.

He was deciding whether or not to go in after her when he heard something in the bushes. He turned, and found Sena stumbling out of the undergrowth.

"Uh, Sena? What are you doing here?" He asked suspiciously.

Sena saw him then and blushed.

"Just came to,uh,visit Suzuna. Yeah. Don't think wrong, it was just a visit. What are YOU doing here?"

"Risa just ran off after we met my friends back in junior high. They said we were in middle school together. I don't remember that, and Risa told them to shut up and ran off. I wanna ask her what the hell was going on."

Sena had a weird look that told Riku he knew something he didn't. He grabbed Sena.

"What are you hiding from me, Sena?"

Sena panicked and struggled.

"Riku let go! I don't know anything!"

"Liar! Its written all over your face! You know something about this!"

Sena got free and sped off. Tired from the earlier run, Riku let him go. He stood there awhile, then finally went back to the dorm.

Suzuna Taki

Suzuna was having a hard time with Risa. When she burst through the door, with Sena barely out the window, she immediately went to the bathroom and locked herself in there. Now, she was trying to coax her out, not just because she wanted to know what was happening, but because she had to really go to the bathroom. When she finally told her that, Risa gave in and got out of the bathroom. Suzuna rushed in. After relieving herself, she came out-only to find Risa had left, with a note on her bed. She read it.

Dear Suzuna,

Sorry, I'm going out for a while for some fresh air.

I'll come back tomorrow.

Risa Kuronikko

Suzuna sighed. She just had to go to the bathroom. She picked up her phone and started dialing.

Riku Kaitani

Riku entered the room and found Sena in the same state that Suzuna found Risa in- locked up in the bathroom. He knocked.

"Sena? Come out, I'm not mad or anything. "

After a minute he added, "I won't ask you about it anymore. "

At that, Sena crept out. He looked at Riku warily then flopped onto the bed. Riku couldn't help but smile.

"Jeez, Sena, you're the same as ever."

He gave Sena a noogie, then flopped onto his own bed.

"Do you at least know where Risa is?"

Sena looked up. "She was coming into the room when I left."

Riku sighed. "Knowing her, she's probably not there anymore. "

"Sorry. "

"No prob. " Riku grinned. Sena showed a weak smile after a while.

Just then, Sena's phone rang. Sena listened for a while, then said,"I'm gonna put it on speakerphone so Riku can hear. "

When he did so, Riku found that Suzuna was calling.

"Have you guys seen Risa? Anyone?" It seemed like everyone on the team was on the line.

Riku heard negatives from everyone.

"Whaaat? She's missing? How lame. " Mizumachi said.

"I hope she's not hurt..." Kurita chattered.

"Nah, she can take care of herself. " Unsui thought out loud. "So shes coming back tomorrow?"

"Thats what the note said. "

"Well, everyone keep an eye out. And Kurita, don't stay up all night worrying. See you guys. I gotta go back to the dorm before 8:00. "

Everyone said their goodbyes and good lucks and hung up. Suzuna, Sena, and Riku were left on the line.

"Where do you think she went?" Suzuna asked.

"Dunno. You... You don't think she went to Kota, right?"

Kota, the only other Team 13 member they knew, was really big on separating Risa from them-especially Riku.

"Maybe. We have two hours until we're supposed to be staying in our dorms for the night. Lets look around. " Riku said.

Mamori Anezaki

Mamori went into her dorm room in Saikyo. She served tea to 2 people inside. Neither one was her annoying roommate Brittany, who had gone out partying with her boyfriends and would most likely come back at midnight, drunk.

Instead, she served tea to Hiruma Yoichi, who had threatened his way in with another person.

"So basically, you're running away for a while because he got a clue that connects you and his past. "

"Pretty much." A female figure replied.

"Won't they be worried?" Mamori asked.

"Nah, only about 3 fools would be." She responded coolly.

Hiruma stared at her with his unreadable expression.

"You can't run away from it forever. "

"I know," Risa turned down her eyes. "I know."

Riku Kaitani

It was 8:00, and the trio who went out looking for Risa met at the front gate, tired.

"We'll have to give up for now," Sena said.

Suzuna protested, but Sena firmly stood his ground. Finally, Suzuna retired to her room, sulking.

Sena and Riku shut the door to their own room and flopped onto their beds, no words exchanged. Riku heard soft snores in Sena's direction.

He sat up and went over to the door, listening. He heard footfalls coming. Riku quickly got into bed and closed his eyes. The door creaked open. A big figure crept into the room, looking around. It was the security man at the dorm, checking that everyone was in their beds by 8:00. He looked around silently, making sure the breathing coming out of the two boys was deep and slow, which was a secret to how he could tell if they were actually sleeping. He listened for a while longer, then left. After the door closed softly behind him, Riku slowly sat up. He was tired, so he used that to his advantage and took a little 'nap'. After the footsteps receded, not to return until the morning. He climbed out the window, and set out to look for Kota.

Kota Kuro-inu

Kota was in the field at Enma, laying down and looking at the night sky. He breathed in, taking in the fresh smell of trees and dew. It was way more better than when they were back at the lab and those guys were giving them all these weird shots and the smell of chemicals and medicine in the air...

Kota shook his head. No, don't think about that. I don't want to remember. Just then, Riku popped over his head.

"Hey, Kota. Have you seen Risa?"

This guy again...

"No, why?" He replied coldly.

"She's been missing the whole day. "

Kota sat up. He looked Riku in the eye. "Seriously?"

Riku nodded. "Serious. "

Kota stood up and started pacing back and forth.

"What are you doing?" Riku asked.

"What are the places you never look for Risa in?"

Riku raised his eyebrows. "If they're the ones we never think of, then i can't think of anything I can't think of."

Kota growled. "Who are your friends outside of school that she knows?"

"Lesse, Otoya, Katsuya, the Kid, Tetsuma, the rest of the people from high school basically. "

"Name the Ojo guys. "

"Sakuraba, Shin, the dumb lineback who I forgot, their quarterback. "

"How about your team?"

"The Kid, Tetsuma, and me are the ones we've met. "

"Mizumachi?"

"None. They all quit, except Kakei. He's in America. "

"Unsui?"

"Agon, Ikkyu and Yamabushi. "

"Kotaro?"

"None. "

"Sena?"

"Boy, thats a lot. Musashi, Kurita, Monta, Jumonji, Kuroki, Togano, Taki, Yukimitsu, there was another one I forgot, Hiruma and their manager Mamori. "

Kota turned. "Mamori?"

Riku nodded confused. "Yeah."

"Where she at now?"

"Saikyo, probably. "

"Did you try there?"

"No. "

"Then go! I'll go with you."

They ran out through the night.

Risa Kuronikko

Risa perked up. Something was bothering her. She felt something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" Mamori asked.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something. But who else could find me...?"

Risa ran through the team in her head. Pretty much everyone couldn't think of this place. So then, maybe someone not in the team?

But who could...? Risa remembered Kota was there.

"Aw, sh*t, this ain't good!" She ran toward the window.

As if on cue, Risa saw Kota, Sena, Suzuna, and Riku running toward the dorm entrance. She backed away and got ready.

"What're you-?"

"They're here. I gotta go. "

Risa was about to leave when an arm roughly grabbed her. Surprised, she turned.

Hiruma had woken up, and was holding her back. He smiled coldly.

"Go and meet them, idiot. Enma won't get stronger without you. "

Risa fixed him with a glare, but he glared right back. But it was too late. The door burst open, and the 4 of them came in.

Risa was exasperated. "If you're gonna come in, at least knock. "

Riku glared at her. "Wow, easy for you to say. Where the hell were you?!"

"Do you really have to ask? Its obvious, no?"

"Whatever. C'mon, lets-"

"RISA!" Kota suddenly shouted.

Confused, Risa looked behind her. Suddenly, the window smashed to pieces and what came crashing through was...

It's him...

"RUN!" Kota screeched at her.

Riku Kaitani

Everything happened at once. A figure crashed through the window and grabbed Risa. Kota was screaming at her, and Riku noticed he was in red eye mode. Kota leaped at the man, but another man came through and shot him with a gun. Kota fell to the ground.

"Kota!" Risa screeched. The man hauled a struggling girl through the window. As he leapt out, Riku and Hiruma came after him. The man ran into the woods, cursing as he went. When they arrived at a clearing, they found more men waiting. Riku stopped, and so did Hiruma.

"What do you want with her?" Riku asked, stalling.

The man in the middle smiled. He was in his 50s, and he had this weird air about him that gave off the sense of evil. He whispered to one of the men, and the man nodded and gave him an injection needle. Riku had to hold back as he walked towards Risa.

"Why, my dear Risa! Where have you been all this time?"he exclaimed mockingly.

Risa had a look of tight control on her face. She haltingly replied.

"Why, hello Mackery Darnwell. "

Riku gasped inwardly. This man was the one who tortured Risa and the Dark 13. And just for football.

Mackery Darnwell focused his attention on Riku. He gulped. The man grinned widely.

"Well, looks like your friends are here to save you, no? They arrived at the perfect time! Let's test this new shot now, shall we?"

Risa's eyes widened at the clear blue liquid.

"No, that can't be..."

"Why, yes it is. It's a little DNA recognition shot, which was what we were researching when you ran away. It alters your memory, so you'll only listen to what I say and follow each and every one of my orders. Now, shall we?" Mackery pushed the needle into Risa's arm.

"Risa!" Riku shouted.

"Run!"

Risa jerked and fell to the ground. She started coughing up blood, and had a series of spasms. Hiruma tried to drag Riku and run away, but they were captured. Riku watched in horror as Risa's panting breath got shallower.

"Maybe there was too many drugs in it..." Mackery muttered. Just then, Risa slowly opened her eyes and unsteadily stood up. Riku noticed her usually shining eyes were now glassy and blank.

"Risa?" He said uncertainly.

Risa didn't look at him. Mackery whooped with pleasure and came next to her.

"Hah! It worked! Now my precious Risa will be the perfect football player ever!"

"You sick son-of-a-b*tch. " Riku growled.

"You may say that," Mackery stroked Risa's face. "But you won't say anything after a demonstration of this fine art. Risa!"

"Yes?" Risa replied in monotone. Riku cringed.

"Kill those two. "

Risa finally looked toward Riku. But there was no recognition in her face. She walked toward him.

"Risa?"

She slashed at him. Riku barely dodged. A wet blanket of blood slid down his cheek. The men had let go, and Riku clenched his teeth.

"We have to go, Riku!" Hiruma shouted. Risa looked at him blankly. Riku saw his chance. He clenched his fist. I'm sorry, Risa.

Riku slammed his fist into her head. Caught off guard, Risa fell unconscious. They ran through the forest.

Risa Kuronikko

Run Riku run don't come back run I might hurt you run Riku I don't want to hurt you run please I don't want to lose another person run I don't wanna lose you run please I don't want to kill you you look too much like Raku I didn't want to kill you Raku Raku Riku Raku Riku Raku Riku run I don't want to lose you again.

Riku Kaitani

Riku rose and stretched. He felt a pang of throbbing pain on his cheek. He cringed. Riku reached up and touched it, and found a band-aid stuck to it. Suddenly, he remembered what had happened the night before.

"Risa!" he shouted. Just then, Mamori came into the room.

Riku blinked. "Mamori?"

"You okay, Ricky-kun?"

"Don't call me that, Mamori! I'm already in college!" Riku protested, blushing at the elementary pet name.

Mamori smiled and sat down beside him. Riku noticed he was in an infirmary room. Mamori replaced his band-aid. Suddenly, Sena and Suzuna entered.

"Hey, Riku, how are you?" Sena chirped cheerfully.

"I dunno. Considering what happened last night..."

"Still don't know about that other injury?" Suzuna smiled sadly.

"Huh?"

"Riku, pull up your shirt." Mamori said.

Riku did so, and he saw bandages wrapped around his stomach. He finally noticed the small stings that he felt before were coming from there. Mamori unwrapped the bandages and Riku saw that there were scratches all over him. They were really bad on his stomach.

"You guys were running through the woods when the other men came. They had knives and tried to cut you guys until they ended up losing you guys. But you hung back, trying to get back to Risa and fought those guys. So you got those cuts," Mamori explained. "But they could've been worse."

Riku tried to move and stretch, but he winced when the pain shot up his body. He fell back onto the pillow. He finally asked the obvious question.

"Where's Risa?"

Everyone looked at each other and nodded to Sena. Sena cleared his throat and said, "We don't know."

Riku frowned and clenched his teeth. Just then, Hiruma came in. He sat in a chair and said:

"I called all of Dark 13 to come and help us get damn cat back."

Everyone looked at him in amazement. He blew a bubble with his gum, popped it, and then raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Wow, you even have control over Dark 13, Hiruma?" Sena asked.

Hiruma rolled his eyes and hit Sena's head with his gun. Yes, the one he always carried with him.

"I guess the damn cat didn't tell you guys that part of the story." he grumbled. "F*ck you, damn cat. Now I have to tell them this stuff. Left all the damn work to me..."

"What is it, Hiruma?" Mamori asked. Hiruma looked over her and grinned teasingly. Sena looked surprised. So did Riku. They never saw Hiruma smile like that to Mamori. In fact, he never did.

"So the damn manager finally shows her 'gossipy side'. Aren't you curious about my past, little b*tch?"

Mamori frowned. Riku cringed. Mamori didn't like being called a bad name. But Riku also noticed a tinge of red on her face.

"Just get on with it."

"Fine then," Hiruma leaned back, obviously pissed with the lack of fun. He blew and popped another bubble.

"I'm the replacement for the Dark 13 quarterback, Aria Kuro-onii."

Everyone just sat there. Finally, Sena broke the silence.

"Uh, could you say that again?"

Riku hit Sena's head. That wasn't what they wanted to hear.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Riku asked in turn.

"I said I'm the damn quarterback for Dark 13."

"But...what?"

Sena shoved Riku aside.

"Since when?"He asked.

"The summer before college started, damn pipsqueak. You wouldn't know shit about it."

"Why didn't Risa tell us?" Riku asked.

Hiruma growled. "You think I know? I'm not the damn cat. So just shut up and wait til we find the god damn cat." Hiruma got up and stalked out of the room, Mamori following him. Riku watched them go and sighed.

"I really wish I could have got Risa back." he muttered to Sena, unknowing of the weird pang in his chest.

"Don't worry, we'll find her soon." Sena comforted him.

Risa Kuronikko

Risa slowly opened her eyes. It was dark. She couldn't see anything. She sat and stared into the darkness, feeling the cold ground beneath her numb her feet. Gradually, Risa felt the pain her body had suffered when she was out hitting her.

Aftershocks, Risa thought.

She tried to move her right arm, and heard the clanking of chains. She tried the other with the same result. She found her arms were suspended mid-air above her head with chains. She groaned. Risa couldn't remember what had happened. Her head was throbbing, and her mind was foggy and murky. But she knew she had forgotten something important. Risa tried desperately to remember.

Suddenly, a door opened and light flooded into the room. Risa flinched at the sudden bright flash. She heard footsteps resounding off the walls, toward her. She opened one eye and squinted at the figure.

"Awake, Risa-chan?" A familiar voice said. Risa blinked.

"Who are you again?"

"Aw, Risa-chan doesn't remember me." The man pouted, but Risa felt something was wrong about the guy.

"Remember? I'm Mackery Darnwell, your foster father."

Risa still couldn't remember him. Something was screaming at her. Warning her.

"Well, I don't trust you. After all, I can see that I'm in chains, no?" Risa trusted that nagging feeling. It had helped her many times in the past...

Risa blinked. But helped me how? She couldn't remember anything from her past. What should she trust?

"That is true. We just didnt want you to escape. "

"Why would I escape?"

The man's eyes darkened; Risa guessed he was getting pissed from this game.

"I'll see you in a while, Risa-chan." With that, he strode out and locked the door.

Risa twisted at the chains. The darkness had engulfed her again. She gave up and her eyes started to water.

Help, help, who the hell am I? What the hell am I? Who is going to help me? I cant remember anything. I feel scared. Why? Why do I feel scared? I dunno what i am. Someone, please help...

Riku Kaitani

Riku glanced at the calendar on the wall. He looked at a specific date.

The semi finals against Saikyo are in 3 weeks. We need to get Risa by then!

The door opened, and two players walked into the football team's clubhouse.

"Oh, hey Riku. Has anyone found Risa yet?" Kurita asked.

"Naw, and we have the semi finals soon."

"What could we practice then?" Sena asked.

Riku scratched his head. Kota was out looking for Risa with Hiruma and the rest of Dark 13. With him gone, they didnt have a trainer.

"Maybe we could, uh, make strategies? After all, we are going against Hiruma, the demon trickster."

Sena shivered. "Yeah, we do need to do that. "

"But who could do that? Unsui isn't very good with strategizing. And he can't possibly out-read Hiruma." Kurita added.

"Agh! What, like Risa could?! We probably didnt have one in the first place! Risa is the best bet we got, but who else is good at being a quarterback like Hiruma?!" Riku cried out.

Sena blinked. "Maybe I could."

Kurita and Riku looked at him. Kurita had a grateful smile on his face, Riku disbelief.

"You, Sena? But in that game against Hakushu you only were able to score one touchdown. And no offense, but you have sloppy passes."

"Clifford taught me a little about throwing and being a quarterback in America when I told them I played quarterback for a while. I can throw good enough."

Kurita clapped his hands excitedly.

"Lets go play and see!"

They went outside and Sena threw the ball perfectly. It wasn't as fast and spiral like as Hiruma's throws, but it had accuracy and was fast enough. Soon, Kurita and Riku found the longest pass Sena could manage was 60 yards.

"Hiruma could throw 80-120 yards." Kurita commented. (No, i dunno if this is true.)

"And his Hail Mary is really hard to beat." Riku scratched his head thoughtfully.

Sena smiled. "Hiruma's really amazing, isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"YA-HA! You better have meant that!"

"Hiruma!" All three cried out in surprise. They looked around.

"Eh? Where is he?" Sena asked.

"Above you, damn pipsqueak!"

Sure enough, there was Hiruma, floating down from a parachute. A jet was heard flying in the distance.

"Listen up, damn Fires!" Hiruma shouted and grinned his trademark devilish smile and hit Sena with his musket.

"I guess that's your way of saying I miss you, huh, Hiruma?" Kota said as he suddenly appeared.

"Not at all. But here's the important stuff. Get everyone on our teams here, damn dog, pipsqueak, fatty, white-hair."

30 minutes later, everyone from the Saikyo and Enma teams have gathered. Ikkyu and Monta were facing off, Suzuna and Mamori were talking with each other, Yamamoto and Sena were talking also, and Hiruma was pissed while he was talking on the phone.

"Get your ass over here, damn dreads!" He hissed onto the phone.

Riku could probably guess that Agon was with some girl and wasnt gonna come for laziness. Sena watched with curiosity.

"Hiruma, uh, no funny things or anything but-EEEEK?!" Sena was cut off as Hiruma whirled his gun and pointed it at him.

"You were saying?" He prodded.

"Uh, why don't you use the book of threats for him?"Sena stuttered.

"Stop wasting my time with a stupid question, damn pipsqueak! Everyone was too scared to get dirt on dreadlocks! Use some common sense for once!" Hiruma resumed yelling into the phone.

Sena walked back to where Riku was. Riku sighed. He saw the hurt face Sena had on.

"Sena, just dont bother him. Hes got a lot going on with Dark13 and Risa and his team."

"Mm-hm."

"Okay you damn idiots! Listen up! We found where the damn cat is! So shut up and listen!"

Everyone quieted down. Riku wondered how Hiruma could take all that yelling. Maybe it was the gum.

"Risa's in a fucking mountain laboratory. We're gonna get her back tomorrow. But we need to follow this plan."

Hiruma explained the plan to them. Riku gawked. Sena nodded, as if he was expecting this the whole time.

"Um, Hiruma, wont people get killed?" Kurita asked.

"Eh, they'll be fine." Riku wondered exactly how coldhearted he was.

"So tomorrow night at 8! Everyone better be there! Or else!" Hiruma pulled out all his fully loaded machine guns, grenades, and bullets. He cackled.

"Wow, I never knew our quarter back was such a devil." Kota muttered.

"Great inference! Welcome to hell, dawg!"

"Hey! Dont call me like that!"

8:00 came, and everyone met up at the airport. As usual, Kurita had spent the night before up worrying and didnt get any sleep.

"YA-HA! Time to kick some ass!" Hiruma, happy that he could finally use his new Hamling6.21, shouted.

They got on board the plane, and were soon taking off.

/'This plane is headed for Las Vegas, Nevada in America. Please relax and enjoy the ride. Thank you.'\

"Well, here we go for America again." Sena said.

Hiruma was sitting so he was facing him. This plane was able to let Hiruma do that, after all. It was Air Force One. Yes, the one the President of the United States rode on. There were lounges, billboard games, a kitchen, and Riku was in the living room with Hiruma, Sena, Suzuna, and Mamori. Everyone else was running around in the rooms.

"How did you get this plane, Hiruma? Didn't they try to arrest you?" Suzuna asked in awe.

"Nah, i just hadda mention the little fact that Mr. Don was running America, and I hadda threaten the Prime Minister so I got this." Mamori sighed. Riku felt sorry for her.

"Hey, does anyone want to play a game?" Yamamoto announced as he walked in. Immediately, everyone popped in.

"What game?" Riku asked.

"It's called Spin the Bottle in America."

"YEEEK!" Sena jumped up. He had a nervous expression on his face. "Why do you wanna play THAT?!"

"Oh, you know it, Sena?" Yamamoto brightened.

"Well, yeah, Clifford forced me to play it." Sena scratched the back of his head, blushing. "I had to run away so I couldnt do that stuff."

"What's the game about?" Jumonji asked.

"Sena, you explain."

"Eh? Me? Uh, well, basically you spin a bottle in the middle of a group and whoever it points to has to do whatever the others say to the next person the bottle points to."

"And what does it usually demand, Sena?" Yamamoto asked teasingly.

Sena got even more red.

"Um, it a-actually asks, uh, usually, for, um, a kiss."

"WHAAAAT?!" Eveyone screamed. Sena cringed. Yamamoto was laughing, Agon was undisturbed, and Hiruma was cackling.

"Hey, chotto matte, are you telling me that these guys already kissed a girl because of a stupid game?!" Jumonji cried.

"Yep." Yamamoto replied heartily.

"W-what about you ,Sena?" Suzuna asked.

"Um, I well, d-didnt kiss anybody, but this drunk lady that picked me kissed me on the , uh, n-ne-neck. "

Suzuna looked shocked and Hiruma was cracking up even more from Sena's confession.

"Ahahahah! Are you SURE it was just on the neck?"

Sena rolled his eyes. "Yes."

"What if you were drunk?"

"Hey, if I was drunk I wouldn't have been able to run away!" Riku had never seen Sena so furious and flustered. Riku glanced over at Suzuna. She was sulking behind Mamori, and was averting her eyes from Sena. Riku sighed. You blew it, Sena. Though I guess it wasnt your fault. You hadnt hooked up with her yet.

Yamamoto pulled out a western phone. It was an iPhone, and Yamamoto started fiddling with it. He raised it in the air.

"I got the game here, so who wants to play?"

Everyone stared at him. "What?"

"You do know there are only two girls here, right?" Mizumachi asked.

"Whoops, hadnt thought of that." Yamamoto replied.

"Well, lets just see who would be the first one to get them." He shrugged.

He started inputting everyones name. When that was done, he started the game. Everyone save for Sena, Riku, Hiruma, Mamori, and Agon were peeking over Yamamoto's shoulders at the strange phone.

"The first ones are... Sena and Suzuna!"

Sena groaned and Suzuna looked away.

"And it says...'the two heartbroken lovers must make up and Sena's gotta give Suzuna a hickey in front of all of us.'"

"What? I know it doesnt say that!" Suzuna cried as she stomped over to Yamamoto. Sena just buried his face in the pillows.

Suzuna stared at the screen. "Wow, it really does say that. Is this game rigged or something?"

"Nope." Yamamoto replied. "So Sena are you gonna do it?"

"Mmmmph."

"What?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"I hate that game."

"Why?"

"A little incident with Clifford."

Kota snapped up straight and pointed his finger towards the ceiling.

"Oh, yeah! One of our players was there with you! He told me about one of the times you played the game and-"

"Shut it, Kota."

Sena glared at Kota, daring him to continue.

"What happened?" Suzuna persisted, ignoring Sena.

"Uh, Clifford put in a certain girl's name and he ended up getting that girl and the demand was to, uh, steal the girl's virginity. Sena got pissed at him and fought him."

"Who was it?" Suzuna asked. Sena got up and left. Kota looked at her with his youre-an-idiot face.

"You."

Suzuna's eyes widened and uttered a little, "oh." She chased after Sena.

"No one pop into their room today. You may see something very disturbing."

"What's that?" All the dumb ones asked.

"Sena stealing Suzuna's-" Riku slapped his head.

"Ahem, okay, next for miss Mamori." Mamori cringed.

"Um, I dont actually have to do it, right?" She asked timidly.

"Nah, not if you dont want to. In the real game you do."

"Good." Mamori slumped back onto the couch with relief. Hiruma smirked and took out his video camera.

"I might get something great to show everyone for a souvenir." He cackled.

"Hey!"

"Now this is surprising! Mamori, you got paired up with Hiruma!"

Mamori gave him her WTF? Look. Yamamoto kept reading.

"It says Hiruma has to deep kiss you."

Mamori gagged. "Not gonna happen."

Agon's eyes narrowed and he stood up.

"Hey, why didn't I get picked?"

Yamamoto glanced at him. "It's just the way it is."

"That's no fair. I wanted to get the chick." Mamori backed away when Agon started to come closer. "Come here, baby."

"Back off, Agon." Riku snarled and stepped in front of Mamori.

Agon glared at him with disgust. "Get out of my way, twerp. Why would you care? You already got your own skinny-assed girl for yourself."

"No, I dont."

"Hell yeah you do. That bitch named Risa who's too damned slutty that got carried away."

SNAP!

Riku and Kota both lunged for Agon. Agon saw them coming and reacted with godspeed impulses. He swatted them away like flies. Kota crashed against the side of the plane and it shook a bit. Riku grazed the sofa and landed behind it onto the serving cart. Agon lept over the couch and grabbed Riku's collar, getting ready to punch him hard. Riku glared defiantly at him.

"Heyyy, damn dreadlocks! You forgot something!"

Everyone turned to look at Hiruma, who was standing in the middle of the broken glass and lamps. He was holding Mamori with one hand and covering her mouth. Mamori screamed, but it was muffled by the hand.

"Want some of this,slutty playboy?" He cracked.

Mamori Anezaki

Mamori tried desperately hard to break free of Hiruma's grasp. But he was so darn strong! She couldnt wrestle free!

Hiruma, what're you doing?! She thought frantically.

Mamori saw Agon narrow his eyes and drop Riku back onto the cart. Riku coughed.

Riku! Are you alright?! She tried to shout, but was again blocked by Hiruma's hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" Agon snarled.

"What does it look like? I sometimes wonder why girls want a blind guy like you. "

Agon smirked. "I know you wont kiss her, asshole. You never would. So give her to me."

Mamori was faced with the terrible question. It was like one of those elementary questions. Who would you rather pick? Hiruma or Agon?

Hiruma's face faltered a bit when he heard Agon's comment. Agon caught it right away.

"Hah! You see?! You wouldn't do it at all! So give her!"

Hiruma slowly walked away from Mamori. Frantic, Mamori couldnt decide whether she should be angry at Hiruma for abandoning her or not.

"That's a good little devil." Agon was getting closer and closer. Mamori squeezed shut her eyes and flinched. Agon was so close...

Suddenly, Agon was hurled aside and crashed into the wall. The plane shook again.

Kota stood in front of Mamori, panting. He had blood trickling off his forehead and out of his mouth. Scratches were all around his body, some of them bleeding blood.

Kota wobbled toward Riku and slapped him. Riku recoiled and sat up suddenly.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"Shut up, you annoying brat!" Agon got back onto his feet and glared at Kota. Kota stumbled and fell on Riku.

"Damn dreads really thought I'd do that?! Hahahahahah, that's too much!" Hiruma suddenly was behind Mamori. She whirled around.

"Hah! You were too chicken to kiss any girl, bastard!" Agon laughed.

Hiruma smirked. "Are you sure?" With that, Hiruma grabbed Mamori by her waist and pressed his lips against hers.

Mamori's eyes widened. Taken by surprise, she stood there stunned. Everyone else was shocked. They couldn't believe Hiruma was kissing Mamori. Well, everyone except Yamamoto.

"Remember, Hiruma, it's gotta be a deep kiss." He called out, as if this was perfectly normal.

"Mmph."

Mamori snapped back to reality and blushed. Hiruma took this advantage to also stick his tongue in there. Mamori cringed and squeezed her eyes shut as Hiruma started to maneuver his tongue around her mouth.

"What the fuck are you doing you bastard?!" Agon shouted. He lunged at them.

Hiruma broke off from the kiss and pushed Mamori out of the way. Mamori hit the floor hard.

"Ow..." Looking up, she saw that Hiruma and Agon were having a little game of tag.

What the hell just happened? She thought as she covered her mouth.

"Whoo! In case you want to know, damn dreads, it was pretty sweet in there!"

"Hiruma!"

"Bastard!"

Mamori saw a blur come toward Agon. The blur tackled Agon and they fell onto the ground. Hiruma ran toward her. Mamori saw that Riku tackled him. As Agon struggled to get Riku off his back and Riku mockingly yelling, "Daddy! Daddy!" Hiruma grabbed her and carried her through the many rooms. They finally stopped at the theater's projection room.

Hiruma put Mamori down and locked the door and barricaded it. Mamori looked around. There was another door.

"Aren't you gonna barricade that one too?" She asked.

"Naw, that'll be the emergency exit. I'll advise you to not look behind the door."

Mamori glared at him suspiciously. They both stood in silence for a while.

"Why'd you do that?" Mamori asked.

Hiruma blinked at her. "I dunno."

"What?"

"I dunno."

"Why?"

"Look, damn manager, if I don't know, that means I cant answer any damn questions right?!"

Mamori gave him a look.

"If you're just so fucking nosy about it then I'll say I just felt like it. Happy?!"

A smile tugged at Mamori's mouth. She couldn't help but grin at how flustered Hiruma was getting. Hiruma caught it right away.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Hiruma paused then walked over to Mamori. She looked up at him. Hiruma looked so serious. She was starting to get nervous. Hiruma...

...pulled out a camera. It was the same video camera he showed them before. And on it, everything that just happened played onto the screen. Even the kiss.

"Delete that right now, Hiruma!" Mamori screeched.

Hiruma grinned evilly and held it up in the air. Mamori tried to get it. But Hiruma was too tall.

"Come on, Hiru-"

Mamori tripped on something and crashed against Hiruma's chest. Hiruma lost his balance and fell. They landed on the floor, with Mamori on top of Hiruma. Mamori stared at the floor, while Hiruma looked at the ceiling.

Mamori could feel the heat on her face.

Ack! What do I do now?!

Hiruma just sat there for a while. Suddenly, Mamori felt something hot and wet on her neck.

"Yeek! Hiruma, what are you doing?!" Mamori pushed him away.

Hiruma held her in place though. They were so close. Hiruma and Mamori stared at each other. Slowly, Hiruma pulled her closer until he kissed her. Mamori sat there, on top of Hiruma, letting him kiss her. Finally, Mamori kissed back. She wrapped her tongue around his. He flinched a little, surprised. They kept at it until one came up for air.

They were slightly out of breath, and both were flushed. Suddenly, the room felt hot. They kissed again, but this time, Hiruma was a little more hungry. He took in every taste. Mamori blushed and let him taste her. Their saliva mixed with each other, and Mamori swore she could taste herself mixed in with Hiruma. Hiruma placed his hand behind her head and pressed her against him harder.

"Nnn..."Mamori uttered, and suddenly realized what she did. She pulled away from Hiruma, panting. Hiruma gazed at her. She caught her breath.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?! Everything! Why all of a sudden?! I dont get anything anymore!"

Hiruma averted his eyes. He took a deep breath.

"Cause I love you."

Mamori blinked.

"What?"

"I love you."

"What?"

"I love you."

"What?"

"I lo-"

"No, I know what you said! It just, what, what are, wha- why-"

"Why so sudden?" Hiruma suggested.

"Yeah."

Hiruma paused.

"I dunno. It just... It just is like that, and I couldnt do anything else. Plus, damn dreads was coming onto you, so-"

Mamori smiled and hugged Hiruma. Hiruma hesitated before hugging back. Again, Mamori felt his tongue licking her neck.

"Nnn!" This time, Mamori let him and Hiruma held her tighter, and Mamori shivered every time she felt his teeth graze her.

It got more intense as Hiruma flipped them over so he was hovering over Mamori. He nipped at her ear, then trailed down. Mamori tried to not make any erotic sounds, but she couldn't help it. Hiruma got lowet and lower until he reached her shoulder. He was about to pull onto her shirt to expose her whole shoulder when Agon started hitting the door. Hiruma and Mamori scrambled up. The stuff blocking the door was starting to fall, and with every kick the door opened wider.

"Get your ass out of there, damn Hiruma!"

"Lets go, damn manager!" Hiruma pulled her toward the other door. Just before the door, Hiruma grabbed Mamori and carried her off the ground.

"Yeek! Hiruma, what are you doing?!" Mamori shrieked. The banging on the door just got fiercer.

"Hang on," Hiruma told her then opened the door. Mamori almost fainted. Behind the door was a 30 feet drop into the actual theater. The door wasnt gonna hold for long though.

"Hang on!" Hiruma jumped out of the doorway. Mamori held on tightly to him as the ground came up fast. Mamori risked a look down and saw Yamamoto and Kurita running below them.

"Let each other go! We'll catch you guys!" Yamamoto shouted.

They let go of each other. Yamamoto caught Mamori with ease and Hiruma bounced off Kurita's body. He crashed into the wall. Mamori winced.

"What the hell was that, damn fatty?!" He yelled and started kicking and swiping at him. Mamori smiled.

Riku Kaitani

Riku was in the infirmary again, where he tended to his wounds. He sighed.

His cheek still had the cut on it, and the deep cuts on his stomach werent helping either. Plus, he got scratches and bruises when he was fighting with Agon.

Riku wrapped his forehead with bandages, since he got a huge amount of cuts on it, when he was being thrown off Agon's back. But it was worth it, mocking him and seeing him all mad. He finally had a chance to fight Agon with a reason.

There was a knock on the door and Sena walked in. Riku gaped at him.

"Wasnt Suzuna chasing you?" He asked. Sena blinked.

"Really? I thought it was Monta or you. I kinda shook her off then." Sena slumped onto a chair.

"Why didnt you tell her the truth?" Riku asked him. Sena had an unhappy look on his face.

"I dont want her to see that i changed."

Riku blinked. "What do you mean?"

Sena sighed. He seemed really down.

"Kota told you guys that I kinda fought Clifford, right? What I mean is, I landed him in the hospital for broken ribs and stuff. I dont want her to know that I changed from the old, nice, harmless Sena."

Riku rolled his eyes.

"You're pathetic, Sena. Do you really think that Suzuna wouldnt love you anymore just cause you changed? She already knows you arent what you were before. Remember what she said just before the Koigahama University game?"

Sena nodded. "She said,'you look more grown up, Sena.'"

"Exactly. So stop whimpering and go talk to her."

"But I dont know where she is."

Riku grinned.

"Shes right behind the curtain."

Sena's eyes widened and he whirled around. Sure enough, Suzuna was standing behind the green curtain. She had an annoyed look on her face.

"S-Suzu-" Sena didnt get to finish his sentence. Suzuna ran over to him and hugged him tightly. Surprised, Sena wrapped his arms around her too.

They stayed like that for a moment, completely oblivious to the fact that Riku was smirking at them. Then Suzuna broke away.

"Uh, Suzuna, I, uh-!" Riku wondered what he was trying to say. Sena had a scared look on his face. Seriously, Sena, what else do you possibly need to say?

Riku's question was answered. Suzuna's hand flew up and grabbed Sena by his ear. Crying out, Suzuna dragged him out.

"See you later, Riku!" Then they were gone.

Riku sat bewildered for a moment. Then he crashed onto the bed, feeling tired.

Jeez, having a love life sure is hard. Riku thought. He smiled at the ceiling above him. But it does look fun. Well, thats what the coach back at Seibu goes on about. Ive never been in love before though. I wonder what it feels like...

Riku thought back to Mamori and Hiruma, plus Sena and Suzuna. They acted completely differently around each other. Okay, sure, Hiruma and Mamori aren't a couple just cause Hiruma kissed Mamori. But still, they practically are. No other girl would want to hook up with Hiruma, no?

Again, the door opened and Yamamoto walked in with Akaba, the music harmonic dude. They sat down next to Riku.

"How're your injuries?" Yamamoto asked.

"Fine, nothing serious." Riku replied.

"So I saw Sena and Suzuna walk out. Did they settle things?" Yamamoto asked.

"Yep. Now Suzuna might start yelling or crying any second now, so-" They heard shouting in the distance.

"Her voice came from upstairs. They're in a bedroom, and I hope everyone steers clear of them." Yamamoto commented. Riku grinned. Then he remembered something.

"Didn't you go after Agon when I let go, Yamamoto?" He asked.

"Yeah, I managed to calm him down. Barely." Yamamoto sighed.

"Phew! Did you two notice the change in Hiruma's and Mamori's harmonics after we found them?" Akaba said mischievously, talking about the usual harmonics he always did.

"What, you mean those two are together?" Riku asked.

"That's sorta hard to believe Akaba." Yamamoto frowned.

"Oh please, you can't tell because both your harmonics arent as tuned as mine." Akaba pushed up his glasses and smirked. "Something happened between those two in the theater's projection room."

Yamamoto was still doubtful, but Riku was starting to believe it. He grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes. He stuck out his pinky and sat up and bent down so his voice could be heard between them.

"What if we test that theory with a little replay of what happened in that room?" Riku smirked.

Yamamoto and Akaba caught on and smiled. Riku told them his plan.

Mamori Anezaki

Mamori walked around, being careful to avoid Hiruma. Once they were out of danger, Mamori realized she had willingly kissed the quarterback/slave driver. Since then, she had walked around the plane, enjoying the furniture but also figuring out what made her do that.

"Hey, damn whitey! Anyone seen the damn manager?!" She heard a familiar voice say in the room she was about to enter. She hurried away, but bumped into Yamamoto, who was walking toward that room.

"Ack! Sorry!" Mamori hurriedly ran out of there, before Hiruma found she was there.

Takeru Yamamoto

Yamamoto watched as Mamori hurried away. He smiled. Suspicious, he thought.

Hiruma stalked in, his demon-like presence radiating around the room. He saw Yamamoto and asked, "Where's the damn manager, American?"

Yamamoto shrugged. Hiruma seemed to frown at him. Yamamoto mentally held his breath. Did Hiruma catch on?

Thankfully, Hiruma turned. He started to walk out of the room. Before he crossed the threshold, he looked back.

"What're you planning, damn American?"

Yamamoto tried desperately to not show any emotion.

"What do you mean, Hiruma?" He asked nonchalantly, "If you're talking about events, I'm gonna go play a little billboards, then I'm gonna eat a hell lot."

Hiruma narrowed his eyes. Then he smirked, showing all his pointy, white teeth.

"Stuff yourself til your as fat as the damn fatty!" He cackled as he left the room. Yamamoto let out his breath. That sure was close! He thought.

He walked into the room which Hiruma had left and met up with Riku.

"Akaba's getting it ready." He said. Riku grinned.

"Sorry, Mamori, but we gotta know what's up!" He said.

Mamori Anezaki

Mamori was in the dining room, tired from all that walking around. She was eating some cream puffs that Kurita had brought to share with her, and relaxed into the soft, cushioned chair. Hopefully, Hiruma gave up finding her.

The lights blinked. Mamori jolted, wondering what was happening. But they stayed on, and she relaxed.

Riku Kaitani

"What the hell are you doing, Akaba?!" Riku hissed into the phone.

"Phew! Electricity isnt part of my harmonics, Riku. It went back on, anyway right?"

"Whatever, you ready?" Riku asked.

"Mm-hm."

"How about you, Yamamoto?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm outside the theater. Ready?"

"Yeah. In 3,2,1...GO!"

Yoichi Hiruma

Hiruma was sitting in the theater, watching a replay of a very interesting football game. No doubt the damn manager was avoiding him. He sighed and continued to watch the video. Something caught his eye and he paused the video on his laptop. He zoomed in, taking in the unfocused image of a boy in the background. He blinked. That's something interesting to ask Dark 13 about, he thought.

Hiruma's ears twitched as the sound of the theater doors opening echoed throughout the theater. He turned and saw Yamamoto walk in, eating a cream puff. Hiruma twitched.

Yamamoto saw him staring at the cream puff and said, "Mamori gave me it. Go ask if you want one."

Hiruma thought, She would be eating those. He stood up, closing his laptop.

"Where is she?"

Yamamoto blinked, and Hiruma knew that Yamamoto hadnt expected him to want a cream puff.

"She's in the dining room." He replied. Hiruma walked out leaving Yamamoto in the theater. Once the door closed and the footsteps faded, Yamamoto walked out the way he came and pulled out his phone. He called Riku.

"He's coming." He said into the phone.

"Get ready, Akaba."

Riku Kaitani

Riku was crouched under the table. He had snuck in from the kitchen when Akaba turned the lights off again. (Purposely, this time.) Mamori didn't see him, and he hoped Hiruma wouldn't either. Just to be sure, he sat at the far end of the long table, where Hiruma and Mamori wouldn't be since the entrance was on the other side.

The plan was pitch perfect. Riku had put Yamamoto's jacket on the floor, since he had mentioned he was going to eat to Hiruma. They didn't have much time left. Only an hour remained until the plane landed. Anytime, Hiruma, Riku thought.

The doors opened. Riku smiled. On the phone, he was watching the door open from Yamamoto's spare phone he happened to bring with him. The only phone which had a weird app called FaceTime that gave live footage. Riku watched through the bouquet of flowers nearest Mamori as Hiruma walked in.

Akaba and Yamamoto connected on FaceTime. They all watched as Mamori's face took on a surprised expression.

Nyahahaha, its working! Riku thought.

Mamori Anezaki

Mamori looked up as Hiruma walked in. Her eyes widened. I thought he stopped looking for me! She thought confused.

Hiruma snickered.

"Damn managers fattening herself with cream puffs again!"

"Be quiet, Hiruma!"

Silence. Mamori didnt know what else to say. She looked down at the cream puffs and realized she wasnt hungry anymore. She heard a chair scraping against the floor. She looked up and saw Hiruma sitting next to her. She felt the heat rise up in her face.

"What, damn manager?" He said.

"Nothing." Mamori tried to make herself as little as possible. Hiruma sighed.

"If what happened in the theater was too much for you, I wont ask anymore." Hiruma said suddenly.

Mamori looked up. She shook her head.

"No it's not you, its just, I dunno why I also did it."

Hiruma blinked. Then he said, "How about we just forget about it until you figure it out and in the meantime act normally?"

Mamori was shocked. She never knew that Hiruma was this kind. Well, yeah, she did know, but Hiruma was never this straight-out before. He would always hide it with his demeanor.

Mamori nodded gratefully and smiled. She noticed Hiruma perked up when she did, then he looked away with a hint of blush on his cheeks. Mamori chuckled.

"Okay, let's go pack up. The plane will land soon." She suggested. They stood up and started dor the door. But after a few steps, the lights went off. Mamori, surprised, tripped over something and crashed against something. It cushioned her fall, but it seemed awfully familiar. What was it?

The lights blinked back on, and Mamori found herself on top of Hiruma. Just like last time. She realized they were kissing again when they fell.

Neither one moved, both shocked by what just happened. Finally, Hiruma broke the kiss and turned his head away, a blush rising on him.

"Sorry,"he started.

Mamori blinked.

"Why? I thought we got used to it in the theater room-"

"It's not 'normal'."

Mamori remembered what he had said before. Suddenly, sadness started to well up inside her.

"Why? It's okay."

Hiruma looked back at her.

"But you wanted to figure things out right?"

"Yeah, but... I dont know! I'd feel sad if you didnt."

Hiruma stared at her. He smiled.

"Fine then." He put his hand behind her head and pulled her down and kissed her. They stayed like that, then finally Mamori broke off and said,"We better get going." Hiruma nodded and they walked out.

**Riku Kaitani**

Riku was grinning nonstop. His plan worked! They found the relationship between Hiruma and Mamori went up a whole level. Plus, it sorta helped to get them back together again. He crawled out from under the table further up from before. He had resumed the recording when they fell and the phone in the flowers couldnt see them anymore. It was scary to see Hiruma so close when he wouldve killed him him then and there. He got the phone from the flowers and walked out from another door.

"God, did you see that?!" He cried into the phone. Yamamoto and Akaba replied and they started talking about what they would do next. Finally, Yamamoto formatted a plan using Riku's and Akaba's suggestions. Riku would need to talk to Sena and Suzuna about it.

"Phew! See, I was right, their harmonics were different and were tuned together." Akaba said.

"That was a shock though. God, Riku, you scared me when I saw you crawling up closer to them. You were so close! Didn't Hiruma see you?!"

"Nah," Riku replied proudly.

"The next case we gotta look into is the difference in Riku's harmonics, Yamamoto." Akaba commented.

"What?"

"You're great, Akaba! Next is you, Riku!"

"I got no one!"

"What about Risa?"

Riku's face wrinkled in disbelief. He blushed.

"N-no way!"

"Phew! He's getting flustered, you see."

"Riku and Risa sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby-"

"Shut it, Yamamoto!"

"Oi, Oi, what's happening here?" Mizumachi suddenly appeared around the corner. Riku was startled; he didnt see him coming.

"It's nothing, Mizumachi."

Mizumachi grinned and said:

"Riku and Risa sitting in a tree, kissing!"

Riku groaned. "Dont bother asking if you already know."

"Woah, its true?!"

"no! I meant like you know what I said!" Suddenly, a crackle sounded above them and they looked up.

"YA-HA! This is your captain speaking! We will soon be on the ground, so get ready, you damn bitches!"

Mizumachi grinned and ran off. Riku held his head in his hands and groaned.

"Well, talk to Suzuna and Sena about it, kay? We gotta go pack."

"Whatever."

Riku walked into the hotel Hiruma got for everyone(via Book of Threats) with his suitcase excited. Soon, Suzuna and Sena would talk to Mamori and get her feelings for Hiruma organized. Riku had a hard time hiding his grin; everyone who passed him looked at him with funny faces. He dropped off the suitcase he was carrying in the room he was sharing with Sena and Monta,wrote a note, then headed outside. Everyone was sleeping. But Riku didn't feel like sleeping at all. He was wide awake, and took a bus to a far park. It was a huge park, stretching across a span of about 3footbal fields squared. It had long, rolling hills and Riku climbed atop one of them. He lay down and looked up at the stars. Suddenly, a thought came to him.

_How did I know about this place? _he asked himself. _It seems familiar..._ Riku tried to grasp the floating, murky thought that was hovering around his head. But every time he managed to get ahold of it, his head throbbed and he cringd in pain. Finally, he gave up. He lay there for a moment and gazed up at the stars. He started to feel very sleepy. Slowly, his eyes closed, and Riku's breathing slowed. He was asleep, with a calm, undisturbed face and a light blush on his cheeks. (No, he was not having perverted dreams.)

_"No! _! _, are you okay?!" Riku shouted desperately through his tears, shaking a girl. The girl looked up, and Riku sobbed. __  
_

_"Oh, god, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! What the hell did I do?!" Around the boy, men in white coats surrounded him, whispering. One grabbed him and started to drag him away. _

_"No! I need to help _! Let me go!" The man grinned._

_"What was that, boy? You were the one who sold her out."_

_Riku shivered, the realization of his betrayal coursing throughout him. He wailed._

_"SOMEBODY! PLEASE! HELP! HELP _!" _

_Suddenly, a crash resounded throughout the chamber and 3 men went down, as all th men turned in panic, the man holding Riku collapsed on top of him. Riku struggled under the heavy man. He caught a glimpse of someone hauling the girl over his shoulder. _

_"No! Leave her alone! _!" Another figure appeared in front of Riku and pulled him out from under the man. _

_"_-_..."_

_Riku blacked out._

Riku Kaitani

Riku sat up, sweating and gasping for air. When he realized it was a dream he groaned and put his head into his hands. Riku then looked up at the sky and sighed. He took in the smell of the fresh grass around him. He smiled. The stars were very clear, and he saw many of them. A crisp breeze, and fireflies hovering all around. It was unusually familiar...

Riku cringed. Suddenly, a throbbing pain was pounding away at his head. He bit his lip, curled over, and held his head with his heads. The pain gradually went away, and Riku sat up. What just happened? He asked silently. He heard laughter in the distance. Curious, he stood up and walked toward the sound. He climbed over another hill and when he reached the top he saw many people enjoying a local festival, illuminated by lights and sounds. He walked around, delighted. He ate ice cream, eggrolls, and many other foods. As he was buying hot chocolate to warm himself, the throbbing pain came back. He got his hot chocolate. Riku scrunched up his face, trying not to notice the pain. Suddenly, he was looking at a flashback that he never knew had happened in his life.

"Wah! Riku, lets buy some hot chocolate!" Riku looked up and scowled at a figure next to him.

"You know, you just had a coke like 30 minutes ago."

"But its cold! Look, you can even see my breath!" The figure(seemed like a girl, since the voice seemed so.) blew gently on her fingers. Riku looked at her strangely. The girl noticed and a slight blush came onto her cheeks.

"W-What?" She stuttered.

"Nothing, its just you looked a little cute when you do that. The outfit just adds onto it." Riku replied honestly.

The girl blushed even more and took a swipe at Riku. Riku dodged and grinned, since it wasn't everyday you see that girl get all flustered. The girl scowled at him and said, "Dont say weird stuff to me. You know what I go through, right, fool?"

Riku smiled and nodded. "Yep, hot stuff."

The girl growled and started chasing him. Riku ran and ran through the festival. Finally, he collapsed, out of breath. The girl fell onto him. He coughed.

"Hey, fool, watch it! Your a girl, and im a guy."

The girl was red and panting from the run. "Bitch," she said in return.

Riku laughed. He carefully got up and sat, the girl next to him lying down. He looked around.

"Where the hell are we?" He asked out loud.

The girl sat up and looked around. Then she palmed her face.

"Auuuugh!" She groaned.

"What?" Riku asked, nervous.

The girl looked at him ㈶9 sheepishly and said, "I, um, was going to show you this at the end of the day. I found it when i was looking for a quiet place."

The girl cringed, apparently thinking Riku was going to start teasing her. But Riku didnt notice as he looked around in awe.

"Wow, when'd you find this place?" He asked.

"Yesterday. Those freakin science geeks were pissing me off."

Riku turned and smiled at her. The girl was taken aback. It was a real smile. The girls face softened and she looked up at the clear night sky.

"Hey, Riku?"

"Yeah?"

"If we ever get separated, let's meet up back here."

Riku whirled around. He faced the girl, with a content smile on her face.

"What are you saying?! We still have a lot of time! And its not like anyones gonna take you away from here!"

The girl continued smiling. She looked at Riku and grinned.

"You never know, fool. Those guys at the lab might do something to me. And you just came to America just for one semester. You're going back to Japan soon."

Riku clenched his teeth. He looked away.

"But you're going to be alone here."

"Hey, fool, before you start getting sentimental, get this. I have the other Dark 13 guys. And its not like we're gonna stay there at the lab forever. Soon, we could escape."

Riku opened his eyes. "Fine, its a promise. We will meet each other back here if we ever get separated and need each other."

The girl held up her pinky. Riku did so too. They twined their pinkys together.

"Its a promise."

Riku came back to reality. He stood there for a while, in the midst of the laughter and illuminated booths. He stood there dazed for a while.

"Get back here!"

Riku snapped back and saw a figure hurtling towards him. It crashed into him and sent them both flying to the ground. How many times am i gonna be in pain? He thought. The figure looked up, and Riku realized who it was.

"Risa?!"

Risa was dazed, and it looked as if she hadnt slept for days. She looked up blankly at him.

"Who are you?"

Riku was shocked. Oh yeah that drug. But it seems like it can wear off. Riku stood up and helped Risa up too. But he saw men coming and shoving their way towards them.

Mackery Darnwell!

Riku hefted Risa up. Risa didnt even protest. He shot through the crowds and stopped at the us station. He looked down the street. Damn, the buses take a long time.

Risa rubbed her eyes. She looked up.

"Who are you?"

Riku sighed.

"Its me, Riku. Dont you remember?"

"Riku?"

Riku started running full speed towards the hotel, a few miles away.

"Yeah, Im Riku. Remember, Risa. You taught me and Sena how to run. You taught the Enma Fires. You played football. Remember, Risa."

"En...ma? Se...na?...Suzuna?"

"Yeah, youre almost there!"

"Riku? Ri..." Suddenly, she let out a howl.

"W-What's wrong?! Risa!" Risa was clutching her head, eyes wide open and tears falling rapidly. Riku clenched his teeth and tried runnin faster, but his legs wouldnt go any longer. The hotel was in sight. Riku called Sena on his phone.

"What, Riku? Im talking with Hiruma. And youre supposed to be asleep!"

"Sena! Send backup right now! I got Risa! We're a quarter mile from the hotel toward this park. Hurry up!" Risa was still screaming.

"Woah, wait, whats happening? Why is risa screaming?"

"I dunno! Just hurry up, they saw us and are probably chasing us right now!"

"Listen up, damn whitey." Hiruma's voice replaced senas. "Keep running. Damn pupsqueak and the other fools will be there soon. But just dont stop. And try running faster- they might have a car."

"Shit!" Riku hung up and realized Hiruma was right. Everything would have been useless if they couldnt get risa away. And they should have a car nearby.

Riku glanced behind him. Sure enough, there were little specks of headlights on the hills.

Shit! Shiiiit! Riku ran and ran. Finally, he met up with everyone.

"Damn pipsqueak! Youre the only other guy who can run 4.1! Take risa and run toward the hotel roof!" Sena took risa from riku and started running.

"Everyone else, we're gonna hold them off if we need to and the helicopter will pick us up. Riku, still got some cocky attitude?"

riku grinned. "Dont underestimate me, hiruma."

Hiruma grinned. "Thats the spirit!"

Sena Kobayakawa

Sena ran up to the roof, where Suzuna and Mamori were waiting. They took Risa from Sena and got her into the jet. Then they boarded and took off. However, none of them noticed the other jet lurking behind them.

Riku kaitani

Crack! Riku let go of the man he was holding and jumped kick another coming at him. The numbers keep increasing.

"Hiruma! Where's that jet?!" He shouted.

"Its coming, damn whitey! Just shut up!"

Riku dodged another man's punch and hit his neck hard from behind. The man collapsed with a groan.

"Sorry, guys." He murmured. The whirring of a jets flight resounded around them.

"Get on!" Mamori beckoned towards them everyone rushed inside and the jet took flight.

"Damn cat, didnt know you were so weak." Hiruma whispered softly.

In the corner of the cabin sat Risa, still shaking with terror. Suzuna sat beside her trying to calm her down.

Risa... Riku thought silently. Hiruma sighed and dragged Risa towards the back of the cabin, where there was a room.

"Hiruma! What are you doing?!" Mamori shouted defiantly.

"Just gonna check a few things with her. Im not gonna hurt her."

"But she cant talk." Suzuna said.

Hiruma rolled his eyes. "If i told you what i was gonna do, you wouldnt like it." Hiruma then shut the door and bolted it.

Everyone sat in silence, wondering what he was going to do.

Hiruma Yoichi

"Damn you, stinking cat. I really wish there would be some sort of girl here who knew how to search for tracking devices." Hiruma started to take off Risa's clothes. Then he put the lead apron over her and scanned her throughly in an X-ray machine. As he got Risa to sit up in the corner, he looked at the results. Damn, this isnt good. He thought.

"Elf bro?" Suzuna's timid voice rang through the door.

"What, damn cheer?"

"You arent gonna do...anything inappropriate to Risa, are you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing like...taking her clothes off?"

Silence.

"HOLY SHIIIT! Hiruma, let me in right now you fucking perverted devil!"

"Oh, shut up, damn cheer. Even if i got one of you girls to do this, you wouldnt be able to do it throughly."

"Damn you, Hiruma!"

Hiruma sighed. Damn manager probably will be freaking out right now. He thought.

Risa stirred. Hiruma glanced at her. She opened her eyes, groggily.

"How're you feeling, damn cat?"

Risa blinked. She looked up at Hiruma.

"Oh...I remember you."

"No shit, cat?"

"No."

"Well, I guess it would be better if you didnt do anything else right now. Tell me what you remember."

"Kota, shiori, the rest of dark 13. Then the orphanage, the elimination, and running away. Then we met you in Japan. Huh, why do you look so tall now?"

"Thats it?"

"Yeah."

"No enma fires or nothing?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

Maybe...she forgot everything painful to her.

"Raku?"

"?"

"Aria?"


End file.
